Tour de France: Tadej Pogacar conquers scorching Pyrenean climb to win stage 15
PLATEAU DE BEILLE, France (AP) — Tadej Pogacar demonstrated his climbing dominance once again, winning the grueling 15th stage of the Tour de France on Bastille Day with a scorching ascent to the Plateau de Beille and keeping the yellow jersey.
The marathon stage on France’s national day was nearly 200 kilometers (124 miles) long and featured four big climbs before an even harder grind up to Plateau de Beille.
Pogacar attacked with 5 kilometers remaining during the final “hors catégorie” (beyond category) climb, solidifying his reputation as the master of the mountains.
“I’m super happy with my shape right now,” Pogacar said. “I usually struggle with the heat but today the team did a really good job with cooling me down. It was an incredible day.”
It was Pogacar’s third stage win in this year’s Tour and his seventh career stage win in the Pyrenees mountains.
“Somehow I like them (the Pyrenees) and they like me back,” Pogacar said. “Let’s keep it that way.”
The stage began Sunday with an immediate climb up the Col de Peyresourde, fracturing the peloton. A breakaway group of climbers, including Richard Carapaz, Laurens De Plus, and Enric Mas, set a fierce early pace but were reeled in as the decisive moments approached.
Temperatures soared close to 35 degrees Celsius on the final climb. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, aided by his Visma teammate Matteo Jorgenson, tried to respond but couldn’t match Pogacar’s relentless pace, finishing more than a minute behind. Vingegaard is now 3 minutes, 9 seconds behind Pogacar overall.
Third-place Remco Evenepoel, another top contender, also struggled to keep up and is in third place overall, trailing Pogacar by 5:19.
“Tadej is on another planet this year,” Evenepoel said after the race. “Right now he is the best in the world. There is absolutely no doubt about that.”
Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay, who has won three stages, retained the best sprinter’s green jersey.
Monday will be the second rest day in the three-week race, ahead of a flat Stage 16 between Gruissan and Nimes in the south of France.