Tour de France race leader Tadej Pogacar admitted that he “can’t wait for it to be over” and that he is counting down the kilometres until the race finishes in Paris on Sunday.
The Slovenian is closing in on his fourth Tour crown after establishing a commanding four-and-a-half-minute lead over nearest rival and two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard.
Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike team rode an attritional race on Thursday, the race’s ‘queen stage’ from Vif to the summit finish at Col de la Loze, in a bid to crack the defending champion. But Pogacar held firm and in fact eked out another 11 seconds with a sprint to the line which dropped his Danish challenger.
Despite his impeccable form, four stage wins, and a near-unassailable lead, Pogacar admitted afterwards that he was tiring of the sport’s most prestigious race. “This is the point where I ask myself: ‘Why am I still here?’ It’s so long these three weeks.
“You just count the kilometres to Paris, and yes, I can’t wait for it to be over so I can do some other nice stuff in my life as well.”
As the yellow jersey Pogacar is subject to more media attention, press conferences, and post-race protocols than other races, which may have compounded the exhaustion of racing for hours each day for three weeks.
The Slovenian added, “But I try to enjoy every day on the bike as much as I can. The fans really help. It’s still nice to ride, even in the third week, when you’re all tired and annoyed by everybody around you, and you just want to go home.
“When you ride on these big climbs and people cheer on you and give you the extra motivation, you then realise that it’s not so bad. Especially if you have a good legs, then it makes everything quite good.”
Pogacar racked up two stage wins in the opening week before back-to-back victories on the race’s first real mountaintop finish on Hautacam and in the mountainous time trial to Peyragudes, in the Pyrenees in the second week.
However, he has ridden a largely defensive ride in the third and final week, marking Vingegaard’s attacks and only countering the Dane in the final moments to stretch his advantage. “I wanted the win, but [defending] the yellow jersey is a priority,” Pogacar explained of his tactical shift.
Col de la Loze was infamous as the scene of his collapse in the 2023 Tour, which Vingegaard went on to win, but this time the riders climbed it from the technically easier side at Courchevel, rather than Meribel as in 2023.
“I can’t wait to climb the other side of the Col de la Loze in the Tour de France,” Pogacar said. “I want to win that stage. This side of the Col de la Loze is much easier, but the other side I want to return [to] for a victory.”
