Le Grand-Bornand (France) (AFP)

From the first alpine day, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, far superior, seized the yellow jersey of the Tour de France on Saturday after the 8th stage won in the resort of Grand-Bornand by the Belgian Dylan Teuns.

Pogacar, the outgoing winner of the Tour, reproduced Lance Armstrong's tactics in his time: knocking out his opponents in the first meeting in the mountains.

This time, the passes of Romme and Colombière were taken advantage of by the young Slovenian (22 years old) to take off against rivals who quickly understood.

Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, the only one to resist the first start 32 kilometers from the finish, abdicated on the second attack.

Despite his resistance, the winner of the 2019 Giro - he lost more than a minute in three kilometers - was swept away by Hurricane Pogacar, untouchable on this rainy day.

The differences in the standings are monumental after only eight days of racing: except for the Belgian Wout van Aert, who ran in vain after his dream of a yellow jersey (2nd now at 1 min 18 sec), the following points to more than four minutes and a half in a hierarchy that still remains to be established ... behind the extra-terrestrial Pogacar, who is only in his third season in the professional peloton and this year won the "Doyenne" Liège-Bastogne-Liège .

- backfire -

In the first two tests of this 2021 edition, the Laval time trial and then the first alpine day, Pogacar showed the same and overwhelming superiority.

Especially since his compatriot Primoz Roglic, his runner-up of last year, is diminished by his fall last Monday, just like the 2018 winner, the Welshman Geraint Thomas, in the "gruppetto" at the finish.

Both were left behind from the first hour of this hectic stage due to the many attacks.

Pogacar found himself somewhat isolated for a while, but found his teammates before the final "one-man-show".

His inexperience at the helm of the Tour, since he only donned the yellow jersey on the eve of the finish last year, remains one of the few mortgages on his chances in this Tour which he has stunned very heavily.

At the risk of reviving the suspicions that accompany any manifest superiority in cycling.

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"I wanted to widen the gaps. Yesterday (Friday), we saw that everyone was running against us. I expected to be attacked and, for me, the best defense is to go on the attack", explained Pogacar , which evoked a "backlash".

- the second from Teuns -

The fly hurt very badly.

If David Gaudu, on the French side, reached the top 10 of the general classification, the world champion Julian Alaphilippe lost some 18 minutes.

For the previous wearer of the yellow jersey, the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who let go at the foot of the penultimate pass, the disbursement is even higher, almost 22 minutes.

Fourth on the stage behind the Spaniard Ion Izagirre and the Canadian Michael Woods, forty seconds behind Teuns, the new yellow jersey said he was "very confident" for the rest: "But, I did not kill the Tour, sorry, there is still a long way to go, "he insisted.

"I think he can defend his jersey until the end," said Teuns, winner for the second time in the Tour, two years after his success at La Planche des Belles Filles.

The Belgian, who is 29 years old, brought, after the Slovenian Matej Mohoric, a second success in two days to the team Bahrain, irresistible since last month.

Sunday, the 9th stage, the most difficult in the Alps, includes 51 kilometers of ascent on the 144.9 kilometer route between Cluses (Haute-Savoie) and Tignes (Savoie) where the Tour returns after a missed finish in 2019 due to a mudslide making the road impassable.

© 2021 AFP