After the highs of yesterday when EF Education-EasyPost took the yellow jersey at the Tour de France the team was put under pressure today, with Ireland's Ben Healy guiding team mate, and outgoing race leader, Richard Carapaz to the finish in Valloire.
The Irish-Ecuadorian duo finished over four minutes down on stage winner, and new race leader, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) after the Slovenian attacked over the top of the Col du Galibier and drove his advantage home all the way to the line.
Carapaz and Healy managed to hang onto the favourites' group for a long time up the final climb, as UAE Team Emirates, piled on the pressure before they slipped out the back door. And close to the top, when Pogačar attacked, only defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) could move with him.
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But as the summit of the feared climb drew nearer, the Danish rider couldn't hold his main rival, who went over the top solo for the eight-second time bonus and then sped down the mountain the remaining 20km to the finish.
Vingegaard was just 10 to 15 seconds away from the lone leader for much of the descent before that gap yawned out to 30 seconds and the Danish rider was joined by a chasing group. It comprised of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers).
However, those five merged in a group much too late in the stage to make any impression on Pogačar's advantage. And in the end he finished 35 seconds up on the group, adding that time gain to 10-second bonus for the stage win and the eight-second bonus for being first over the final climb, making for a day of big returns.
Some 35 seconds after he crossed the line, riding every inch of the way for time, Evenepoel finished 2nd from Ayuso and Roglič. There passed another two seconds before Vingegaard took 5th on the stage, with Rodríguez 6th on the same time.
Healy and Carapaz were well back the road, finishing side-by-side in 31st and 32nd some 5:10 down on the flying winner. That is perhaps good news for Healy, who will now not find himself drawn into domestique work defending the yellow jersey and will still get his shot at trying for a stage victory.
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? @TamauPogi is the boss! The Slovenian won solo in @valloire and didn't want to lose a single second in the final!
? @TamauPogi en patron ! Le Slovène s'impose en solitaire à @valloire et n'a pas voulu perdre la moindre seconde dans le final !#TDF2024 | @Continental_fr pic.twitter.com/Gx5nUZufEW— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 2, 2024
And though the time gaps at the front were far from a disaster for Pogačar's rivals, it was still a very big day for the man hoping to add a third Tour title to the Giro d'Italia crown he collected with ease back in May.
Pogačar now leads overall, after the first real test of the race, by 45 seconds from Evenepoel, with Vingegaard 3rd at 50 seconds. The defending champion, who is coming back from crash injuries sustained in early April, now has to hope he can ride himself into better condition.
And, even if that proves to be the case, he will also probably need Pogačar's condition to diminish during the third week of the race, as did last year and in 2022. On the strength of today's performance, however, Pogačar looks as capable and hungry as ever while Vingegaard is clearly still off his best.
For their part, Roglič, Evenepoel and Rodríguez look like they are settling in for a fight between themselves for the final step on the podium behind the big two, though it is still early yet and anything can happen on the road to Nice on Sunday fortnight.
Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) may have finished well down the field today - as expected on the hilly 139.6km stage from Pinerolo to Valloire, but he looked in better condition on the early climbs than many of the other sprinters in the race.
The Irishman, who is at this race for a sprint stage victory, was 156th today, finishing in a large group at 34:27. However, it appears the laboured look that Bennett gave off in recent seasons almost any time the road kicked up is gone and he at least looks more comfortable climbing than he has done for some time; hopefully a positive sign.
