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The day after people were questioning whether Pogačar had the form to win the 2023 Tour de France, the Slovenian responded with a masterclass in patient, powerful riding to take the Stage 6 win. He now sits within 25 seconds of the yellow jersey which went to key rival Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).
Pogačar started the day in sixth overall on the general classification, a minute and 40 seconds behind Australian Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe) in yellow.
The Slovenian had lost a minute and four seconds to Vingegaard in Stage 5 alone, causing fans and competitors to wonder whether he had the week one form needed to excel in this year's Tour.
“I was not dead yesterday, I still went quite good," Pogačar said.
"Of course, I’m super happy for today. I played it smart today," he added.
“I think the shape is coming along every day. We must not give up, and we will ride like this to the end. It’s still going to be a big fight.”
The two-time Tour de France winner finished 24 seconds ahead of a determined Vingegaard and picked up an extra four seconds over the Dane in time bonuses.
Hindley also fought with everything he had finishing fifth, two minutes and 39 seconds behind Pogačar. Hindley now sits in third overall.
While the day's battle heated up on the long, tough climb up the Col du Tourmalet mid-stage, Pogačar was rewarded for patiently biding his time before making his emphatic attack.
“When Jumbo started pulling on the Tourmalet I was thinking, ‘Okay, if it’s the same as yesterday, then we can almost pack the bags and go home',” Pogačar said.
“But I just kept telling myself I need to hold onto the wheel and not give up until the top, then it would be just me, Jonas and Wout (van Aert) for the last climb. If I lost the wheel there, it would be a bit more problematic. I was happy that I had good legs on the Tourmalet.”
After pushing out just enough power to hold Vingegaard's efforts on the Tourmalet, it was the closing kilometres of the stage's summit finish where Pogačar pounced.
“I was thinking about attacking for the last four kilometres,” Pogačar said.
“I got told on the radio to follow Jonas and race smart. But racing smart would be going even earlier, but I was suffering all the way to the finish line.
“I don’t regret going at that moment. It was just enough, maybe if I went earlier maybe I would explode on the flat part or something. It was a good day, I tried to feel the race. You need to have balls to attack in the end."
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Stage 6 - Mini Stage - Tour de France 2023
Taking a bow as he crossed the line, it was clear that Pogačar had saved the best until last and emptied the tank in a cunning but measured attack.
“You can have Plan A, B, C, D, E, F... even the whole alphabet. You can have plans, and anything can happen. Racing is really difficult.
“Yesterday we also had a plan, but we totally missed it. Today, Jumbo didn’t miss the plan, but they tried it, and they didn’t succeed, because in cycling it’s so difficult to follow the tactics. There are so many circumstances you need to think about. And it’s difficult to predict if it’s going to work or not. That’s cycling.”
