Tadej Pogacar Seals Penultimate Stage Victory in Tour de France Thriller

Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar clinched the penultimate stage of the Tour de France, edging out defending champion Jonas Vingegaard. Pogacar's tactical prowess in the final moments secured his third overall win, placing him well ahead in the rankings. The race concludes with an individual time trial on Sunday.

Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar moved closer to his third Tour de France title by outmaneuvering his main rival, Jonas Vingegaard, in the penultimate stage on Saturday. Pogacar secured his fifth stage win of this year's Tour by outsprinting Vingegaard in the final meters of the 132.8-km mountain stage from Nice. Vingegaard, who ran out of steam, could not keep pace in the last kilometers.

Showing no mercy, UAE Emirates rider Pogacar stayed on Vingegaard's wheel, unleashing a powerful sprint 250 meters from the finish line. Celebrating yet another stage victory, Pogacar expressed his delight, "I enjoyed it very much, I couldn't be happier." The Slovenian now boasts 16 Tour stage victories. He added, "Just one more day and tomorrow I think I'm going to enjoy it as well. If you had told me this before the Tour, I would not have believed it."

Pogacar, a two-time Tour champion in 2020 and 2021, leads Vingegaard by five minutes and 14 seconds, with Belgian Remco Evenepoel in third place, trailing by another 2:50. Vingegaard's hopes to gain time over Evenepoel crumbled after an ineffective attack from the Belgian earlier in the stage. The Tour wraps up on Sunday with an individual time trial between Monaco and Nice, marking the first time in 121 years that the race won't conclude in Paris, due to the upcoming Olympic Games.