Tadej Pogačar arrived at the Critérium du Dauphiné seeking clarity about his condition and the performance gap to competitors like Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel. Initial results raised questions about his form, but a dominant performance on stage 6 proved otherwise. He effortlessly distanced himself from rivals, claiming victory and taking the race lead, now 43 seconds ahead of Vingegaard and 1:22 ahead of Evenepoel. Pogačar expressed surprise at the extent of his lead and confirmed he was feeling strong, providing reassurance following earlier doubts about his shape.
"For sure, I did not expect it to be this much of a gap. I was expecting there to be maybe two, three guys following me, and then they would start to attack me," said Pogačar to CyclingProNet after stage 6.
"But I tried to really commit to the steep part and then accelerate on the easier sections. But if you do not have the legs, then you cannot do this, so I'm super happy that the legs were here," he added.
Collection
[
|
...
]