Tour de France 2021 - 'He calls his own shots' - Getting to the bottom of Tadej Pogacar's dominance of the race
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 04/07/2021 at 19:48 GMT
Tadej Pogacar's class was on full display on Stage 9 of the Tour de France as his late attack on general classification rival Richard Carapaz saw him tighen his grip on the yellow jersey. The Breakaway team analyse exactly why the reigning champion is still very much the man to beat at this year's race.
'He's shown no weakness today' - O'Connor wins stage 9 as Pogacar turns it on
Tadej Pogacar’s increasing dominance at this year’s Tour de France appears to be down him taking the initiative when faced with a challenge.
A blistering display towards the end of Stage 9 saw the reigning champion re-establish his dominance of the general classification, putting more time on his rivals for the yellow jersey.
In Tignes, it was an attempted attack by one of those rivals Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) at 4km that spurred the UAE Team Emirates man into action, leaving the Ecuadorian in his wake.
Pogacar now leads the GC by 2:01 over stage winner Ben O’Connor in second place and is 5:18 ahead of third place Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo).
Speaking on The Breakaway, the panel were impressed with Pogacar's decision-making and willingness to take chances.
“Pogacar, barring any incident, looks head and shoulders above everybody else,” said Brian Smith.
“The hardest thing I think for UAE is holding him back.
“They decided to try and keep numbers towards the front all day and they did a tremendous job just holding him back but I don’t think he planned to go and attack there.
“Carapaz went and he followed him, rolled off the front looked at him and went ‘I’m just going to go’.”
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2021/07/04/3167234-64900128-2560-1440.jpg)
Highlights as O'Connor takes Stage 9 victory on wet and windy day in the Alps
“He seems to call his own shots,” Orla Chennaoui added, to which Smith agreed.
“Yesterday he called his own shots and put his team to the front ‘I’m going to do something today’ and put his own imprint on the first big mountain stage," he continued.
“Today he decided to put a further few seconds into everyone else”
Dan Lloyd then joked: “It was almost like he was thinking ‘well I might as well’."
- - -
You can watch the Tour de France live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and Eurosport.co.uk. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now. You can also watch the most comprehensive +.GCNlive & ad-free racing on live & ad-free racing on GCN+..Go deeper and get interactive with live polls & quizzes, plus rider profiles, race updates, results & more – plus stream exclusive cycling documentaries.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement