COL DE LA COUILLOLE, France Tadej Pogacar equaled a Tour de France mark on Saturday and will likely equal another on Sunday.
Yellow jersey holder Pogacar defeated defending champion Jonas Vingegaard at the top of the Col De La Couillole to win the 20th and penultimate stage and add yet more seconds to his considerable lead.
It was the fifth stage victory this month for the two-time champion, who stretched his arms as he crossed the line before raising his fingers to signal the number of victories.
The only other man to win five mountain stages in a Tour was Gino Bartali in 1948.
“If you told me that before the Tour, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Pogacar said. “In fact, it’s out of this world. I am really happy.
“(Five steps) is more than enough. One would be enough. Just the yellow jersey would be enough. But that’s how it is, you don’t brake in cycling.”
Pogacar attacked from the leading pair with 150 meters to go and beat Vingegaard by seven seconds.
It will likely be the same positions on the final podium on Sunday, after Pogacar extended his lead to 5 minutes and 14 seconds over two-time champion Vingegaard, his closest rival.
Third-placed Remco Evenepoel lost even more time. He crossed the line in fourth – behind Richard Carapaz – and lost 53 seconds to Pogacar, leaving him 8:04 behind the Slovenian star.
The Tour ends on Sunday on the French Riviera with a 34-kilometer (21-mile) trail from Monaco to Nice, and not in Paris as is usually the case because of the Olympic Games.
Barring incident, it is almost certain that Pogacar will reclaim the Tour de Vingegaard crown and, in doing so, secure a rare Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double. The last driver to win both in the same year was the late Marco Pantani in 1998.
“I really enjoyed (the stage),” said Pogacar. “It didn’t go as we planned, but I couldn’t be happier with it, another stage win. I’ll enjoy it too.”
After him explosive attack the day beforePogacar said he would not attempt to win Saturday’s stage, a short but brutal 133-kilometer (83-mile) route from Nice that featured three difficult Category 1 climbs.
In fact, the UAE driver just hung out with the rest of the slim group of title contenders on the daunting 16-kilometer (10-mile) ramp up the Col de la Couillole until Vingegaard made his move and Pogacar sat in the Danish steering wheel.
They then swept away the remains of the breakout and caught up to the first two, Carapaz and Enric Mas, with 2.5 kilometers to go.
First Mas and then Carapaz were eliminated, setting up an intriguing battle in the last kilometer between the two cycling stars, but it was only a matter of time before Pogacar launched his sprint.
Moments after crossing the line, Pogacar stopped and waited for Vingegaard to hug him.
Vingegaard was hospitalized for almost two weeks in April after a high speed accident in the Tour of the Basque Country. He resumed competitive racing only in this Tour.
“Somehow I expected him to give it to me,” Vingegaard said. “But I already knew I was walking too hard, if he ran I wouldn’t have a chance, as I was already at my limit.
“But you can always hope. But it’s cycling, that’s how it is. I don’t blame him, I would probably do the same. I’m really happy with today’s performance and how I was able to come back from yesterday.”
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