Roglic takes Tour lead, Pogacar grabs stage
LARUNS: Slovenians took the laurels on the Tour de France on Sunday ( Monday in Manila) as rookie Tadej Pogacar won a Pyrenean mountain slog and his compatriot Primoz Roglic grabbed the overall lead.
Overnight yellow leader Adam Yates of Britain made a valiant effort to keep hold of the yellow jersey, but fell gradually away on the final climb as the gradient hit 12 percent.
Pre- Tour contender Roglic has been the form man this season and after Sunday’s second-place finish leads defending champion Ineos leader Egan Bernal by 21 seconds.
“Everybody dreams of wearing the yellow jersey one day in his life so first off I’m just happy how things are,” said Vuelta a Espana champion Roglic.
“It’s a fight for every second now and lots off things will happen to each of us on the road to Paris,” he added.
When asked if he worried that Bernal was beathing down his neck after Jumbo-Visma put the hammer down for nine days, he shrugged.
“No- one could go as hard as
Egan did there on the last climb,” he said. “We can enjoy a well deserved rest day now.”
Pogacar said he remembered little of the frantic sprint that gave him a first Tour stage win as he pipped Roglic and Swiss rider Marc Hirschi, who had set the pace for much of the day, on the line.
The 21- year- old Pogacar had a message of consolation for his 30- year- old countryman Roglic. “He’s won before and he’ll win again. He and I can achieve great things for Slovenia,” Pogacar said.