His team UAE Team Emirates – XRG flawlessly executed their work in the 7th stage, and Tadej celebrated his second victory in the first week of the 112th Tour. This time, he conquered the famous climb on Mûr-de-Bretagne, where in 2021, he was defeated by Mathieu van der Poel, who four years ago also wore the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.
The Dutch ace returned to Brittany in the yellow jersey, which he took from Tadej after the 6th stage with just a one-second lead. On the two-kilometer final climb, another duel between them was expected, but this time Mathieu didn’t have enough strength to keep up with the pace at the front.
For most of the 197-kilometer test with 2,450 meters of elevation, Tadej’s teammates set the pace, and they also excellently prepared the winning move for him. Unfortunately, João Almeida was not among them in the finale, as he got involved in a nasty crash 6 kilometers before the finish. He injured his rib and suffered some abrasions, but it seems he will be able to continue the race.
»I am super happy with the win, today. We did an almost perfect day. Unfortunately, João crashed and I hope he is ok. If he is ok, then it is a perfect day. If he is not, then this victory is for him,« Tadej said after celebrating his 13th victory of the year and 101st in his career. It was also the 60th victory of UAE Team Emirates – XRG this season.
He expected to have to beat van der Poel again, but this time Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) came closest. »I think me and Mathieu both know this finish really well. We both have nice memories from here, and we wanted more or less the same thing: to win on this iconic climb. I think maybe he left too much on the road yesterday so we couldn’t have this rematch, but for me this day went super and how we planned. The win is amazing. We did an amazing job today, all the teammates were perfect. It was a hot day, we spent a lot of energy to cool down the bodies and also it was a super fast, hard day. We had a plan and we stuck to it. Tim led me out to the bottom of the climb. Normally, João would be there but he crashed, so Jhony came through in the last kilometre and he did a super good job to keep it under control until the last sprint. It was perfect for me,« Tadej added.
A few days ago, he won the 4th stage in Rouen, and with this victory, he now has 19 in total at the Tour. He wore the yellow jersey for the 42nd time in his career, wore the pink jersey at the Giro for 20 days last year, and with 62 leader’s jerseys in three-week races, he equaled the achievement of Primož Roglič, the Slovenian who has worn the yellow, pink, or red jersey the most times so far.
Tadej increased his lead in the overall standings over second-placed Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick Step) to 54 seconds, with Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea B&B Hotels) remaining in 3rd place with a 1:11 deficit, and Vingegaard in 4th place trailing by 1:17. »I’m back in yellow and hoping for two easy days,« Tadej said. Ahead of him are the flat stages 8 and 9. It is expected that the best sprinters and their teams will take the initiative.