Tadej Pogačar turned his dream into reality, stealing the yellow jersey from fellow countryman Primoz Roglic in the 20th stage of the 2020 Tour de France. Pogačar laid down the best time of the day in the 36.2 km time trial from Lure to La Planche des Belles Filles (a 6 km climb at 8.4% average gradient) to win the stage and take over yellow going into the final day of the race.
With a stunning performance, the UAE Team Emirates leader stopped the clock with a time of 55’55” (average 38.844 km/h), 1’21” better than Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) and 1’56” better than Primoz Roglic, projecting himself to the top of the general classification with a 59” advantage on the former leader of the race.
Pogačar had recently beaten Roglic in a time trial with a similar course to that of today already in the last Slovenian national championship.
The new yellow jersey is also the leader of the youth rankings and is back at the top of the ranking of the best climbers.
“I’m dreaming. I am very proud of this jersey that repays all the efforts made by the team up to this last phenomenal push to put me in yellow,” said Pogacar at the finish. “I dreamed of winning this Tour since I was a boy and now it has come true.
“I must say that the credit is not only mine, but of all the members of UAE Team Emirates and the sponsors who support us. We had come here to the TT for a reconnaissance, so I knew what we were going to do and I knew where to accelerate and where to manage the effort: today I only had to think about pushing hard from start to finish.
“During the time trial I felt that I was going strong and this spurred me even more. My dream as a cyclist was to participate in the Tour de France, winning it definitely goes further”.
2020 Tour de France Stage 20 Brief Results:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 55’55”
- Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) +1’21”
- Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) s.t.
General classification After Stage 20:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 84h26’33”
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +59″
- Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) +3’30”
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