Pogacar wins Tour de France Stage 10, extends overall lead over Vingegaard to 3'36"

Tadej Pogacar (27) delivered on his promise, winning the 10th stage of the Tour de France from Aurillac to Le Lioran. The race leader, on course for his fifth Tour victory, broke away from the group of favorites 15 kilometers before the finish and crossed the line alone, 32 seconds ahead of his rivals.

The Slovenian extended his overall lead over Dane Jonas Vingegaard (29) to 3 minutes and 36 seconds. Before the stage, Pogacar's key helper Nils Politt (32) had announced that his team leader intended to be first across the finish line — a goal he achieved.

Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe's Recovery

The team appears to have fully recovered from the chaos of the first week. After Remco Evenepoel (26) publicly criticized his co-captain Florian Lipowitz (25), and Sunday's water bottle clash between the two, Tuesday brought a demonstration of strength.

During the earlier incident, the pair were riding in the same group without helpers — who had either missed the group or were too fatigued. The two had to decide who would serve as water carrier from the captain, with the Swabian ultimately providing for the Belgian.

On Tuesday, both riders featured in the leading group alongside Pogacar and Vingegaard. Evenepoel finished second in the sprint of the chasers, while Lipowitz placed fourth behind French super talent Paul Seixas (19).

As a result, Lipowitz improved to 6th place in the overall ranking, now 38 seconds behind his teammate Evenepoel, who sits third. It is considered likely that Lipowitz will prove stronger in the Alps and overtake the double Olympic champion.

Lipowitz's Reaction

"As expected, it was a super hard race, but the team did a super good job and my legs were pretty good," Lipowitz said. "But to follow Pogacar, we didn't have the legs for that. He was simply too strong."

On Evenepoel finishing ahead of him: "Remco second, I'm incredibly happy about that and we can be super happy. We are on a good course. Legs and form are right, and it looks good towards the podium."

Pogacar's Motivation

Pogacar, riding in a league of his own, confirmed Politt's earlier words: "We actually picked out this stage."

When asked why he was determined to win at the ski station Le Lioran, he explained: "Two years ago, Jonas Vingegaard beat me in the sprint here. My legs were gone at the end then. Today too, but this time I was alone out front."

His victory on French National Day, which denied Seixas a win, drew some boos from spectators. "A few people booed, but that gives us even more strength. All I had in my head was to get to the front, as we discussed on Monday."

Pogacar added that in competitive sport, it would be wrong to hand out gifts to other teams simply because of a national holiday.