LES ANGLES, France (AP) 鈥� After just three days of racing at the Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar is already wearing yellow.
The overwhelming favorite made the most of the first mountain stage to post his 22nd career stage win at cycling’s biggest race and seize the race leader’s jersey on Monday.
Pogacar sprinted away from his rivals from about 200 meters to the finish line at Les Angles in the French Pyrenees, and no one could match his speed.
The UAE Emirates-XRG leader held his arms out in triumph and clenched his fists at the summit as he crossed with a two-second lead over Jonas Vingegaard, Richard Carapaz and Paul Seixas.
Pogacar took 10 bonus seconds for his win, and Vingegaard was awarded a six-second bonus for his second place. Overall, Pogacar and Vingegaard were level on time but Pogacar鈥檚 stage win coupled with his second place in Sunday’s Stage 2 earned him the yellow jersey.
鈥淭o take the yellow jersey is a dream for any cyclist,鈥� Pogacar said, “Every time I can get it again on my shoulders feels really special. I don鈥檛 know how long it will last but we鈥檒l try to enjoy every moment.鈥�
Pogacar, who Isaac del Toro on the second stage, has crushed his rivals this season and chases a record-equaling fifth Tour victory. The only four riders to have won five Tours are Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault.
Pogacar thanked Del Toro for his efforts in the final ascent.
鈥淚t鈥檚 thanks to Isaac that I got extra power today. He committed more than 100% on the final climb,” he said. 鈥淭he team feels super good and when we can win we have to take the opportunity. We tried, we gave it all and we won.鈥�
Monday’s win marked his 14th victory this season, a run that includes general classification wins at the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie, as well as one-day triumphs at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour of Flanders, Milan San Remo and Strade Bianche.
Vingegaard, of Visma-Lease a Bike team, is looking to win the Tour for the third time after triumphing in . The Danish rider had taken the yellow jersey on Saturday after leading his Visma-Lease a Bike team to victory in the around Barcelona.
The three-week race hit the mountains early on the 196-kilometer (121.5-mile) third stage, starting from Granollers in Spain and concluding with a short but sharp uphill dart to in the French Pyrenees. Pogacar’s team worked hard to keep the day’s breakaway on a short leash and the last remaining escapee, Alex Baudin, was caught with about 10 kilometers to go.
The stage finish was about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from a large wildfire that has burned large swathes of land. As a result, organizers decided that once the peloton reached France for the last 40 kilometers, the publicity caravan 鈥� a 10-kilometer-long procession of sponsor vehicles that precedes the race 鈥� would not operate. Only riders and vehicles essential to the race were allowed on the route, and spectators were asked not to gather on the roadside or at the finish area.
Once in France, the number of fans along the roads 鈥� usually present in their thousands 鈥� decreased. But there were actually a lot of spectators when the riders passed through villages further down the road.
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