Pogacar lost hope of taking Vingegaard's Yellow Vest

Stage 17 yesterday included a 166 km climbing journey from Saint-Gervais-les-Bains to Courchevel, France. 155 cyclists must pass four graded climbs, the most extreme of which is the final 28.1 km climb up the Col de la Loze, before descending to the Courchevel ski station.

Vingegaard did not win this stage 17. But like the 16th stage of the individual timed race that he won with a time of 32 minutes and 36 seconds, the defending champion once again proved he is the strongest candidate for the Yellow Vest Tour de France 2023.

Pogacar almost ran out of hope through the image of his heavy legs and shirt unzipped to the waist when he was 7.6 km from the top of the Col de la Loze. This Slovenian rider lags behind the shielding Jumbo-Visma team, giving a very good support to Vingegaard Yellow Shirt.

Thanks to that, Vingegaard finished fourth, faster than Pogacar - who finished 22nd - to 5 minutes 45 seconds. The Danish driver continued to hold the Yellow Vest with a total time of 67 hours 57 minutes 51 seconds, widening the gap with Pogacar up to 7 minutes 35 seconds. In third place is Adam Richard Yates of UAE Team Emirates team when 10 minutes 45 seconds behind Vingegaard.

"The movie's over, it's all over," Pogacar said over the radio to the steering car of the UAE Team Emirates. After finishing, Pogacar also admitted this was "one of the worst days of my racing career". The race for the Yellow Vest Tour de France 2023 turned around very quickly, when the gap between Vingegaard and Pogacar was widened from 10 seconds to 7 minutes 35 seconds after just two stages.

The rapid decline of Pogacar caused the UAE Team Emirates team to change their goals at the tournament. Accordingly, the 2020 and 2021 champions will aim for second place, while Yates will fight to defend the third place overall.

"The showdown between Vingegaard and Pogacar at the 2023 Tour de France has come to an end, but Vingegaard's dominance at this prestigious road race seems to be just beginning," the Guardian commented. Meanwhile, the Cyclingnews site thinks that the only thing worth waiting for now is how big the gap between Vingegaard and Pogacar will be when the race is completed in Paris.

Yesterday, AG2R Citroen's driver Felix Gall performed at his best in a group of 34 early split cyclists, consisting of Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) ).

Gall attacked alone at the foot of the steepest sections of the Col de la Loze, and maintained his lead over Yates at the top, across the narrow winding ramp and up the 18% ramp to the finish line on Courchevel. Gall finished first with a time of 4 hours 49 minutes 8 seconds, ahead of Yates 34 seconds and Peio Bilbao of Team Bahrain Victorious 1 minute 38 seconds.

Giulio Ciccone of the Lidl-Trek team still holds the Red Shirt for the Climbing King with 88 points, while the 25-year-old rider of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team Jasper Philipsen continues to hold the Blue Shirt for the sprint king with 323 points.

Today, the 2023 Tour de France will race the 18th stage of the medium climb, 185 km long from Moutiers to Bourg-en-Bresse, France.