Hindley is living the childhood dream
Vingegaard wonders about Pogacar after attack
The fifth stage of the Tour de France tells two big stories: Jai Hindley fulfills a childhood dream with a courageous ride through the Pyrenees. Meanwhile, Tadej Pogacar suffers a surprising setback. Competitor Jonas Vingegaard is surprised.
Tadej Pogacar had disappointment written all over his face. Since the Grand Depart in the Basque Country, the two-time Tour champion had stood out with good legs and a good mood, but the low blow in the Pyrenees clearly caused problems for the yellow favorite. “Jonas Vingegaard was too fast at the Col de Marie Blanque. He was really very strong. What an attack,” said Pogacar. The Slovenian lost 1:04 minutes to defending champion Vingegaard on the first Pyrenean stage to Laruns on Wednesday.
Surprisingly, Pogacar was unable to parry the first serious attack from his Danish rival. In the overall ranking, the 24-year-old, who wears the white jersey of the best young professional, fell back to sixth place – 53 seconds behind Vingegaard, 1:40 minutes behind leader Jai Hindley from the German team Bora-hansgrohe, whose hussar ride was rewarded.
Pogacar lost a lot of time, but his morale was intact before the first mountain finish on Thursday in Cauterets-Cambasque. “We will keep fighting, not everything is lost yet,” said Pogacar. Vingegaard had not expected his own dominance. “I was surprised that Pogacar couldn’t follow me. I wanted to test him a little,” said Vingegaard.
“Here we are. It’s crazy”
Meanwhile, stage winner Hindley was also in a very good mood. The dream that he hardly dared to dream as a six-year-old in distant Perth had come true. “I’ve been following the Tour since I was a little boy. I never thought I’d wear the yellow jersey,” said Hindley after his ride to the top of the Tour de France overall ranking: “But here we are. It is crazy.”
The victory in Laruns, which was also thanks to his noble German helper Emanuel Buchmann, earned Hindley the maillot jaune. In the most coveted piece of cycling material, Hindley will tackle the legendary Col du Tourmalet on Thursday on the second Pyrenees stage. There is a lot of self-sacrificing effort behind the success of the captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe. “I’ve been living like a monk and out of a suitcase for two months,” said Hindley. He worked hard to get into Tour form at altitude training camps and at the Criterium du Dauphine. He hardly saw his family. “But that’s part of being competitive. I owe everything to my family,” said Hindley.
