Tour de France verdict: Tadej Pogacar victory is a triumph to match completion of race...

[ASFN Admin]

Tour de France 2020, stage 21 results and final standings One of the most extraordinary Tour de France editions in the history of cycling’s greatest race ended on Sunday night with its youngest champion in over a century almost completely speechless. “I cannot describe how I’m feeling right now,” Tadej Pogacar said from somewhere beneath his face mask. “It was a really amazing three weeks on the road.” It certainly was. Pogacar could be forgiven for being tongue-tied. The Slovenian, who only turns 22 on Monday, was speaking to an audience of millions, having catapulted himself into the global sporting consciousness from nowhere in the space of 24hrs with one of the most astonishing rides ever seen in the sport. Pogacar’s individual time trial to the summit of La Planche des Belles Filles on Saturday will go down in cycling’s annals. Riding second from last on the road, he managed to turn a 57-second deficit to his compatriot and pre-race favourite, Primoz Roglic, into a 59-second advantage by the finish. Roglic, the former ski jumper who had worn the maillot jaune for 11 days and had cycling’s newest superteam, Jumbo-Visma, protecting him day after day, was considered the favourite for the stage and the race. No one counted on the 21 year-old from Komenda, a tiny village in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia with a population of less than one thousand. It was one of the great sporting muggings. Pogacar has not come completely out of nowhere. He finished on the podium at last year’s Vuelta a España, winning three stages in the process. But this is the Tour de France. The best riders in the world focus exclusively on this race. And his team UAE Team Emirates were nowhere near a match for Jumbo-Visma. “It is incredible,” Pogacar conceded. “Standing here. It’s been an amazing three-week adventure. I have to thank everyone involved in all the preparations. All the hard work in the team, my family, everyone who supported me.” As he was speaking, Roglic’s baby, which he was holding on the podium, briefly cried out. There was no crying from Roglic. The 30 year-old admitted he had shed tears in the wake of his collapse on La Planche des Belles Filles.

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