Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates Triumphs in Stage 19 of Tour de France
Embrun, The Gulf Observer: Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates has once again demonstrated his dominance in the Tour de France by winning Stage 19 from Embrun to Isola 2000, a challenging 144.6 km route featuring the formidable climbs of Col de la Bonnette and a summit finish.
The Slovenian cyclist launched a decisive attack from the group of favourites with 8.7 km remaining, following a superb effort by UAE Team Emirates to control the day’s main breakaway. At the time of his attack, six riders from the breakaway still led the race, with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) holding a 2’40” advantage over Pogačar.
Despite the efforts of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), neither could match Pogačar’s pace. He embarked on a solo mountain time trial, overtaking all six riders ahead of him, and becoming the solo leader with 1,900 metres to the finish. This victory marked his fourth stage win in the 2024 Tour de France.
Pogačar expressed his satisfaction after the race: “My teammates and I had talked about how badly we wanted to race this day, and we raced as we said, setting everything up to the point when I attacked. It was perfect. I was a little bit empty in the final two kilometres of the stage. When I caught Carapaz and Simon Yates, I felt I was already on my limit. Then I saw Matteo and pushed through to overtake him at great speed. That killed my legs, and I was afraid that he might come back to outsprint me. He was very strong today, as was the rest of the breakaway. Chapeau to all of them.”
Matteo Jorgenson finished in second place, 21 seconds behind Pogačar. João Almeida of UAE Team Emirates secured seventh place, 2 minutes behind the leader, strengthening his fourth position in the General Classification (GC).
Looking ahead, Pogačar will face Stage 20, a 132.8 km route from Nice to the summit finish of Col de la Couillole, featuring climbs of Col de Braus, Col du Turini, and Col de la Colmiane. He will start with a 5’03” lead over Vingegaard and a 7’01” lead over Evenepoel.
