‘I was not calculating seconds or minutes' – Pogačar blows Tour de France apart on Tourmalet to win stage 6 and retake yellow

‘I was not calculating seconds or minutes' – Pogačar blows Tour de France apart on Tourmalet to win stage 6 and retake yellow

Tadej Pogačar attacked with 40km remaining on the Tourmalet, held 30 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard at the summit, then kept growing his advantage all the way to Gavarnie-Gèdre. The top 10 is now split by more than seven minutes.

By Tim Bonville-Ginn · · 4 min read

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) won stage 6 of the Tour de France from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre on Thursday, finishing 2:38 ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) after attacking on the Tourmalet with around 40km remaining. He retook the yellow jersey with a lead of 2:42 in the general classification, and his teammate Isaac del Toro moved into third overall at 3:27.

It was the first major mountain stage of the Tour and UAE made sure to send a strong message with the whole team working all day and bringing the break back very early. It was a full leadout for Pogačar with Del Toro the key man in the final setup for the attack.

It was the decisive move that we predicted could effectively close the yellow jersey question at the earliest possible juncture.

How the race broke open

Pogačar went clear with Del Toro on the slopes of the Tourmalet with around 40km to go. The move was actually started by the Mexican champion who saw there was a gap to the rest of the GC riders and pushed on with his team leader. Pogačar then came through and Del Toro faded back into the chase group with Vingegaard passing him. Over the top, Pogačar held 30 seconds on Vingegaard, with the group containing Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) already at 1:25 and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) slightly further back, at around 1:50.

Results

Jul 9

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Tadej Pogačar
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG4:32:07
🥈
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+2:38
🥉
Isaac del Toro Romero
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+2:57
4
Remco Evenepoel
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+2:57
5
Paul Seixas
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+2:57
6
Florian Lipowitz
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+2:57
7
Juan Ayuso Pesquera
LIDL-TREK+2:57
8
Mattias Skjelmose Jennow Jensen
LIDL-TREK+2:57
9
Lenny Sydney Martinez
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+3:02
10
Sepp Kuss
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+3:06
11
Egan Arley Bernal Gomez
NETCOMPANY INEOS+4:47
12
Jordan Jegat
TOTALENERGIES+8:18
13
Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue
XDS ASTANA TEAM+8:18
14
Ilan van Wilder
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+8:18
15
Thomas Pidcock
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+8:18
16
Yannis Voisard
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+8:21
17
Adam Richard Yates
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+8:21
18
Tobias Halland Johannessen
UNO-X MOBILITY+8:21
19
Lennert van Eetvelt
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+8:21
20
Brandon Mcnulty
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+8:21
21
Davide Piganzoli
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+8:21
22
Pablo Castrillo Zapater
MOVISTAR TEAM+8:23
23
Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+8:51
24
Christopher Harper
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+9:33
25
Mathias Vacek
LIDL-TREK+11:03
26
Ramses Debruyne
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+11:03
27
Carlos Verona Quintanilla
LIDL-TREK+15:46
28
Tiesj Benoot
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+16:50
29
Thymen Arensman
NETCOMPANY INEOS+16:50
30
Nicolas Prodhomme
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+16:50
31
Sean Quinn
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+16:50
32
Jai Hindley
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+18:38
33
Antonio Tiberi
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+19:36
34
Guillaume Martin Guyonnet
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+20:57
35
Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia
XDS ASTANA TEAM+20:59
36
Matteo Jorgenson
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+20:59
37
Ben Alexander O'Connor
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+22:01
38
Felix Grossschartner
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+22:01
39
Quinten Hermans
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+26:00
40
Tobias Svendsen Foss
NETCOMPANY INEOS+26:00
41
Marc Hirschi
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+26:00
42
Matthew Riccitello
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+26:00
43
Jose Felix Parra Cuerda
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+26:00
44
Michael Valgren
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+26:00
45
Maxim van Gils
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+26:00
46
Damiano Caruso
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+28:51
47
Mattia Cattaneo
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+28:51
48
Ion Izaguirre Insausti
COFIDIS+28:51
49
Tim Wellens
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+28:51
50
Anders Halland Johannessen
UNO-X MOBILITY+29:55
51
Torstein Træen
UNO-X MOBILITY+29:55
52
Joris Delbove
TOTALENERGIES+30:47
53
Valentin Paret Peintre
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+30:47
54
Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda Hernandez
MOVISTAR TEAM+30:47
55
Abel Balderstone Roumens
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+30:47
56
Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes
MOVISTAR TEAM+30:47
57
Nils Politt
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+31:25
58
Sebastian Berwick
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+31:25
59
Derek Gee
LIDL-TREK+31:25
60
Michael Storer
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+31:25
61
Quinn Simmons
LIDL-TREK+31:25
62
Xandro Meurisse
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+31:25
63
Javier Romo Oliver
MOVISTAR TEAM+31:25
64
Kévin Vauquelin
NETCOMPANY INEOS+31:25
65
Raul Garcia Pierna
MOVISTAR TEAM+31:25
66
Toms Skujins
LIDL-TREK+31:25
67
Anders Skaarseth
UNO-X MOBILITY+31:25
68
Alex Baudin
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+31:25
69
Victor Campenaerts
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+34:53
70
Lars Craps
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+34:53
71
Clément Russo
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+34:53
72
Alexandre Delettre
TOTALENERGIES+34:53
73
Mathis le Berre
TOTALENERGIES+34:53
74
Felix Engelhardt
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+37:58
75
Damien Craig Howson
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+37:58
76
Kasper Asgreen
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+38:25
77
Aurélien Paret Peintre
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+38:25
78
Julian Alaphilippe
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+38:25
79
Alex Kirsch
COFIDIS+38:25
80
Nicolya Vinokurov
XDS ASTANA TEAM+38:25
81
Bruno Armirail
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+38:25
82
Nelson Oliveira
MOVISTAR TEAM+38:25
83
Matteo Vercher
TOTALENERGIES+38:25
84
Dylan van Baarle
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+38:25
85
Louis Vervaeke
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+38:25
86
Brent van Moer
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+42:08
87
Jasper Stuyven
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+42:08
88
Liam Slock
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+42:08
89
Huub Artz
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+42:08
90
Thibault Guernalec
TOTALENERGIES+42:08
91
Warren Barguil
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+42:08
92
Jenno Berckmoes
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+42:08
93
Alfred Brockwell Wright
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+42:08
94
Quentin Pacher
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+42:08
95
Baptiste Veistroffer
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+42:08
96
Jonas Abrahamsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+42:08
97
Dorian Godon
NETCOMPANY INEOS+42:08
98
Anthon Charmig
UNO-X MOBILITY+42:08
99
Vlad van Mechelen
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+42:08
100
Robert Stannard
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+42:08
101
Matteo Trentin
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+42:08
102
Matej Mohoric
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+42:08
103
Nico Denz
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+42:08
104
Lorenzo Germani
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+42:08
105
Mathieu van der Poel
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+42:08
106
Jan Tratnik
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+42:08
107
Rick Pluimers
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+42:08
108
Tim van Dijke
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+42:08
109
Jonas Rickaert
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+42:08
110
Søren Wærenskjold
UNO-X MOBILITY+42:08
111
Per Strand Hagenes
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+42:08
112
Pavel Bittner
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+42:08
113
Florian Vermeersch
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+42:08
114
Milan Fretin
COFIDIS+42:08
115
Marco Frigo
NSN CYCLING TEAM+42:08
116
Alex Aranburu Deva
COFIDIS+42:08
117
Frank van den Broek
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+42:08
118
Mike Teunissen
XDS ASTANA TEAM+42:08
119
Jenthe Biermans
COFIDIS+42:08
120
Simone Velasco
XDS ASTANA TEAM+42:08
121
Tom van Asbroeck
NSN CYCLING TEAM+42:08
122
Joel Nicolau Beltran
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+42:08
123
Stefano Oldani
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+42:08
124
Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+42:08
125
Michael James Matthews
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+42:08
126
George Bennett
NSN CYCLING TEAM+42:08
127
Luke Durbridge
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+42:08
128
Filippo Ganna
NETCOMPANY INEOS+42:08
129
Pascal Ackermann
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+42:08
130
Krists Neilands
NSN CYCLING TEAM+42:08
131
Marco Haller
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+42:08
132
John Degenkolb
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+42:08
133
Frits Biesterbos
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+42:08
134
Joshua Michael Tarling
NETCOMPANY INEOS+42:08
135
Anthony Turgis
TOTALENERGIES+42:08
136
Thomas Jake Stewart
NSN CYCLING TEAM+42:08
137
Nicolas Breuillard
TOTALENERGIES+42:08
138
Magnus Nielsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+42:08
139
Julius van den Berg
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+42:08
140
Emiel Verstrynge
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+42:08
141
Edoardo Affini
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+42:08
142
Georg Steinhauser
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+42:08
143
Max Walker
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+42:08
144
Ben Healy
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+42:08
145
Aaron Murray Gate
XDS ASTANA TEAM+42:08
146
Max Kanter
XDS ASTANA TEAM+42:08
147
Michal Kwiatkowski
NETCOMPANY INEOS+42:08
148
Mauro Schmid
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+42:08
149
Lucas Plapp
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+42:08
150
Georg Zimmermann
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+42:08
151
Kamil Gradek
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+42:08
152
Robbe Dhondt
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+42:08
153
Clément Braz Afonso
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+42:08
154
Michel Heßmann
MOVISTAR TEAM+42:08
155
Matis Louvel
NSN CYCLING TEAM+42:08
156
Hugo Page
COFIDIS+42:08
157
Romain Gregoire
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+42:08
158
Ewen Costiou
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+42:08
159
Davide Ballerini
XDS ASTANA TEAM+42:08
160
Biniam Girmay
NSN CYCLING TEAM+42:08
161
Edward Planckaert
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+42:08
162
Benjamin Thomas
COFIDIS+43:01
163
Olav Kooij
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+43:28
164
Cees Bol
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+43:28
165
Daan Hoole
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+43:28
166
Pascal Eenkhoorn
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+45:24
167
Mads Pedersen
LIDL-TREK+45:24
168
Phil Bauhaus
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+45:24
169
Niklas Märkl
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+45:24
170
Jakub Otruba
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+45:24
171
Fernando Gaviria Rendon
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+45:24
172
Silvan Dillier
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+45:24
173
Tim Marsman
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+45:24
174
Piet Allegaert
COFIDIS+45:24
175
Jasper Philipsen
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+45:24
176
Tim Merlier
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+45:24
177
Lewis Askey
NSN CYCLING TEAM+45:24

The gap kept growing. On the descent, through the valley, and again on the final 18.7km climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre, Vingegaard could not close. The deficit reached 2:38 at the line. Del Toro, after his early effort, still finished third on the stage at 2:57, beating an early sprint effort by Evenepoel.

"I would say this one goes in the top five of my Tour de France victories," Pogačar said after the race finish. "I got flashbacks from the Tourmalet stage from 2023 when I broke my hand. But, yes, this is an incredible victory, and one of the sweetest for sure. Yesterday, when we were coming back from the stage, we were already very hyped talking about today’s stage. I woke up at 7 this morning and my mind was going crazy. I was really excited for today. I knew it was going to be a good day. We just committed, riding as if we had nothing to lose. If we explode, we explode… But in the end, we succeeded and I’m super proud with everybody. It was crazy teamwork."

It was another showing of how all-conquering both Pogačar and his UAE team are in comparison to the rest of the peloton. They were head and shoulders above the rest with an advantage in the GC as well.

Del Toro's contribution went beyond the initial acceleration. His third place on the stage and promotion to third overall gave UAE two riders in the top three of the general classification. "Today's mission is complete," the Mexican champion said. "The team has done an incredible race today."

Tadej Pogačar celebrates his Tour de France stage win at the Gavarnie-Gèdre finish with raised arms

He added: "I’m super happy I have been able to reach this level. It’s been quite special to be near the top riders all the way to the finish. Actually, the race went a bit better than expected for me. I’m proud and happy I have been able to do a performance like this one already in my first Tour de France, and I’m also happy that Tadej has been able to prove how strong he is."

The classification picture

Behind Pogačar, Vingegaard and Del Toro, the GC is already stretched: Evenepoel sits fourth at 3:30, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) fifth at 3:34, Seixas sixth at 3:55, and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) rounds out the top 10 at 7:10. Pogačar also took the polka-dot jersey lead on 28 points.

"I was not calculating seconds or minutes," Pogačar said. "I just wanted to go full gas all the way to the finish. I didn't think I would take the yellow jersey today. I just heard that Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) crashed on the downhill from the Tourmalet. I hope he is okay and I hope he can recover fast."

He leaves stage 6 in yellow and polka dots, with his teammate third overall and Vingegaard 2:42 behind.

Cover image credit: Thomas Maheux

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Tim Bonville-Ginn

Pro cycling contributor

Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked in cycling for well over a decade with his articles being featured across publications such as Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Cyclist, Rouleur, Eurosport, Road cc, Domestique, and more.

As well as writing, Tim has worked as a social media and press manager for professional teams Human Powered Health, Global 6, and Saint Piran across Europe as well as commentating on races such as the African Continental Championships, Tour de Feminin and multiple rounds of the British road and circuit series for Golazo and Monument Cycling.

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