Laruns (France) (AFP)
The Pyrenees were adorned on Sunday with the Slovenian colors in the Tour de France: Tadej Pogacar won the 9th stage, in Laruns, and Primoz Roglic took control of the race before the rest day.
Second on the stage in the Ossau valley, Roglic confirmed his favorite label.
Without taking any time, apart from the bonuses, for the outgoing winner, the Colombian Egan Bernal, now second in the general classification, 21 seconds behind the Slovenian.
In a stage marked by the long breakaway of young Swiss Marc Hirschi (22), caught only 1,700 meters from the line, Pogacar set off the wringer 2.5 kilometers from the top of Marie-Blanque.
Fatal to the wearer of the yellow jersey, the Briton Adam Yates, who lost 54 seconds, just like the Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez.
Pogacar was followed by only three riders, Roglic and Bernal, who appeared noticeably more comfortable than the day before, as well as the Spaniard Mikel Landa.
The Australian Richie Porte, secondly, then the French Romain Bardet came back before letting go on a new acceleration as the summit approached.
- Hirschi poorly rewarded -
On arrival, Porte and Bardet gave up 11 seconds in a group that also included Guillaume Martin, still third in the standings, and Colombians Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Uran, all within reach of the standings, only around thirty seconds behind. Roglic.
"I would have liked to win today", commented soberly the Slovenian, who had won in Laruns during the previous visit of the Tour in 2018. "But I am already very happy with this yellow jersey", added Roglic, who had never worn the outfit since his Tour debut in 2017.
The Slovenian duo, which hovers over the Tour with the Colombian “condors”, have dashed the hopes of Hirschi, author of a long solitary escape heralding a bright future.
Hirschi started at the front as soon as the Hourcère pass was approached after the start of the race (48.2 km in the first hour).
Alone in the lead 91 kilometers from the finish, he resisted for a long time despite a lead that had melted to 15 seconds, at the top of Marie-Blanque, 18 kilometers from the finish.
A week after bowing to Julian Alaphilippe at the finish of the 2nd stage in Nice, the young Swiss (21), world champion hopes in 2018, was limited to a new place of honor.
But his performance gives him a place of choice within the new wave of the peloton.
Last year, his third place in the Clasica San Sebastian was eclipsed by the success of Belgian prodigy Remco Evenepoel, at the age of 19.
- As a warning -
At 21 and for his second season in the elite, Pogacar, already impressive on Saturday in Peyresourde, is even more part of the renewal of the hierarchy initiated last year by Bernal.
For his discovery of the Tour, he is a candidate for the podium, or even the yellow jersey in Paris, although he lost time on Friday in the curbs on the road to Lavaur (Tarn) and is now 44 seconds behind Roglic , number one in the powerful Jumbo team.
"I came for the general classification," confirmed the Slovenian from the UAE Emirates team, third in the last Vuelta.
Before launching as a warning to his opponents: "I lost time but that doesn't mean much. There will be bigger gaps in the next two weeks."
After the finish, the Tour riders joined the buses of their respective teams for the long transfer, approximately 430 kilometers, leading from the Pyrénées-Atlantiques to the Charente-Maritime department.
On the program for the first day of rest of this Tour, PCR (nasopharyngeal) tests to detect possible positive cases for Covid-19 and recovery before the second week of the race.
© 2020 AFP