Tadej finished the mountain tests of the 111th Tour de France in style. He was the strongest on the final climb of stage 20 to Couillole, where he beat Jonas Vingegaard in the finish. The Dane responded with a strong counterattack to Remec Evenepoel’s attempts to get close to him in 2nd place in the GC. Tadej followed him until the last kilometer and then confirmed his superiority in this year’s Tour.
It was his fifth stage victory in the last three weeks and the 16th of his career at the Grande boucle. “It was a very hard day, I expected the breakaway to drive away, and we would continue at our own pace. The team and I wanted to keep the group behind together, but the race exploded. When the Soudal Quick Step team stepped up the pace on the climb to Colmiane, I knew the final climb would be very demanding. Remco’s attacks were strong, but I was on the limit with Jonas’s counterattack. I didn’t want to work with him, I wanted to recover on his bike, I wouldn’t mind if Mas or Carapaz won. Jonas wanted to gain time and chased after them,” commented Tadej.
He stuck to his principle that there are no gifts in professional cycling.
“You don’t give away stage wins to the closest competition, we allowed a big advantage to the breakaway, they had a chance, but when it’s offered to you, you have to take advantage of it. Even the sprinters don’t give each other victories,” continued Tadej after he increased his lead over Vingegaard to 5:11. Evenepoel is now 8:04 behind.
As it seems, the first three places in the 2024 Tour are decided. There is only a final time trial from Monaco to Nice on the schedule and Tadej could claim his sixth stage victory.
“If someone had told me before the Tour that I would win five stages, I wouldn’t have believed them, it’s really crazy. One win or a yellow jersey without a stage win would be enough. Tomorrow we will see how good my legs are. The most important thing is to get to Nice safely, the route is quite dangerous. Maybe this time I’ll enjoy the crowds on the side of the road more,” Tadej said before making history on the Promenade des Anglais. If everything goes according to plan, he will be the first cyclist since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the pink jersey at the Giro and the yellow at the Tour in the same season.