Stage 17 didn't bring too much action for GC favourites as is clear that the final standings will be decided in the last three stages. Hence it was finally time for breakaway show on Wednesday. However even with stage victory out of the equation, Tadej Pogacar still didn't miss the opportunity to make the stage harder for Jonas Vingegaard as he attacked on the penultimate climb of the day and then sprinted away to gain two seconds on the finish line.
Speaking to NOS, Tom Dumoulin, wasn't particularly impressed by Pogacar's act, which he considers rather pointless wasting of energy. "This is a pure bluff, it's a mere show of strength. Pogacar is three minutes ahead, he doesn't need to do this. He does it just to annoy Vingegaard. It has something to do with arrogance," he believes.
According to the Dutch former winner of Giro d'Italia, it's more of a mental war between Pogacar and Vingegaard. The Slovenian now finally seems to have an upper hand again and prefers to have everyone know it. "Pogacar can't stand the fact that he has been beaten for two years in a row. Now he has finally returned to being the boss and has the legs to hurt Vingegaard again. His thought is: now it's all coming back to you."
With four more days of racing ahead, Tadej Pogacar has a nice lead of 3:11 on Vingegaard. Meanwhile the third spot Remco Evenepoel was able to recover a bit of time in Superdévoluy and now stands a bit less than two minutes further from the Slovenian.
#TDF2024 - Dumoulin on NOS about yesterday Pogacar attack: "This is a pure bluff, it's a mere show of strength. Pogačar is three minutes ahead, he doesn't need to do this. He does it just to annoy Vingegaard. It has something to do with arrogance." (1/2)
