Tadej Pogacar claimed the Tour de France overall lead with a late attack in Sunday’s second stage, though the Slovenian may have been surprised by how easily defending champion Jonas Vingegaard followed him despite his recent lack of racing.
While the 2020 and 2021 Tour winner’s lightning attack on the ascent of San Luca left fellow favourites Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel seemingly glued to the road, Vingegaard had no trouble keeping up despite entering the race having not competed since he sustained a collapsed lung in a crash almost three months ago.
“It feels good to be in yellow again,” Pogacar said. “I was so close last year and then I cracked. This year it feels good to be back in yellow, even if it’s without any margin. It feels good, and it’s confirmation that I’m also strong. I’m in good shape.”
“I did a really good attack,” Pogacar said. “I was happy that I exploded the contenders a little bit. But yeah, Jonas was quite fast on my wheel, and he was really strong.”
