Tadej Pogačar Takes Home the Yellow Jersey at the 2021 Tour de France

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) took home the yellow jersey as the overall winner of the 2021 Tour de France. The 22-year-old finished safely in the peloton at the end of Stage 21 on Sunday in Paris, successfully defending his title in last year’s race. Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (INEOS-Grenadiers) finished second and third on the Tour’s General Classification and joined Pogačar on the final podium.

Here’s a look at how every stage of the Tour this year unfolded.

Results From Every Stage Full Leaderboard

Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) won the stage on the Champs-Élysées, his third of this year’s Tour de France. Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) finished second and Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) was third.

Pogačar dominated the Tour in a manner we haven’t seen in years, taking the yellow jersey on Stage 9 and defending it all the way to Paris. Along the way, he won three stages including Stage 5’s individual time trial and back-to-back to summit finishes in the Pyrenees (Stages 17 and 18).

For the second year in a row he also won the white jersey as the Tour’s Best Young Rider and the polka dot jersey as the Tour’s King of the Mountains. No rider has won three jerseys since Eddy Merckx won the yellow, green, and polka dot jerseys in his debut Tour de France way back in 1969. (The white jersey wasn’t awarded back in 1969, but Merckx would have won that too.) Now Pogačar’s done it twice.

For only the second time in his career, Cavendish took the green jersey as the winner of the Tour’s Points Classification. The 36-year-old wasn’t even supposed to be racing but came to the Tour as a last-minute call-up and won four stages, bringing his career tally to 34. With Cavendish now tied with Merckx for the most stage wins in Tour de France history, look for the first field sprint of next year’s Tour to be one of the most anticipated races of the year.

What About Next Year?

So far, all we know about the 2022 Tour de France is that it begins on Friday, July 1 in Denmark, with a short individual time trial in Copenhagen. And while anything can happen between now and then, given the way he crushed this year’s competition, it’s hard to see anyone defeating Pogačar in 2022. The 22-year-old was easily the Tour’s most complete rider—against the clock and in the mountains, no one could challenge him.

The most popular rider on next year’s starting line might be this year’s biggest surprise: Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard. Riding in his debut Tour de France, the 24-year-old came to the Tour to support team leader Primož Roglič, but took over leadership of the team himself after the Slovenian abandoned the Tour before Stage 9. Roglič should be back and ready to challenge again in 2022, but now he might have a co-leader to contend with as well. Having two cards to play could actually help Jumbo-Visma in its bid to defeat Pogačar, and in Vingegaard, they seem to have discovered a legit GC contender.

Speaking of having more than one card to play, INEOS-Grenadiers came to the Tour with—depending who you asked—two to four riders capable of winning the overall title. That plan blew up quickly, ultimately leaving Richard Carapaz (who’s now the first Ecuadorian to finish on the Tour de France podium) as the team’s only GC contender. A former winner of the Giro d’Italia, Carapaz raced aggressively and was one of the Tour’s best climbers, but his inability to time-trial will always be his major Achilles heel. Perhaps 2022 will see the return of Colombia’s Egan Bernal, who won the 2019 Tour de France for INEOS, but abandoned last year’s Tour with a bad back. Winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia, Bernal’s another prodigiously talented climber—and a mediocre time trialist—and the prospect of Bernal and Carapaz racing side by side in the mountains is tantalizing. But having the Tour’s strongest team doesn’t matter much if you don’t have the Tour’s strongest rider, and if Pogačar rides like he did this year, there might be little anyone can do.

And Pogačar shows no signs of letting up any time soon: he’s heading directly from Paris to Tokyo for Saturday’s Olympic road race and then plans to start the Tour of Spain in mid-August. If he wins that too, expect those who question the integrity of his performances to continue asking uncomfortable questions—especially if the investigation launched against the Bahrain-Victorious team late in this year’s Tour gains traction.

But for now, we await October’s announcement of the 2022 Tour route—and all of the fantastic races still to come during the second half of the 2021 season, beginning with next weekend’s Olympic road races.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma showed again that he’s the most versatile rider in the pro peloton with a convincing win in the final time trial over Deceuninck-Quick Step's Kasper Asgreen. As expected, Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Emirates) had zero trouble defending his comfortable lead, taking it (relatively) easy and conceding almost no time to his rivals.

Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard ably held off Richard Carapaz (Ineos) for the second podium spot; Vingegaard finished third on the day, adding over a minute and half to his cushion. Second overall is a huge result for Vingegaard, who is just 24 years old and came to the Tour to support team leader Primoz Roglič, who had to drop out due to crash injuries. There were no changes to the top 10 overall.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

Pogačar will also enter Paris on Sunday as the leader in the KOM and Best Young Rider competitions. It’s the second year he’s taken all three classifications, a feat no rider has accomplished (Eddy Merckx swept the yellow, green and polka-dot jersey standings in his first Tour, in 1969, and would have been the Best Young Rider as well; the classification didn’t start until 1975).

All of that has led to questions about whether we’re at the dawn of the “Pogaczar” era, when he will dominate the Tour for the next many editions. He swatted those suggestions away, saying that there are a number of current young pros and riders who will enter the ranks in the next few years who will challenge him, but it’s a worthwhile question: who can beat him? Right now, there’s no easy answer.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

On a day that looked like a sprint finish on paper, the pack was instead entirely content to let a breakaway duke it out for the stage win and take an “active rest day” ahead of Stage 20’s individual time trial. It took a bit for the right mix of riders to emerge, but once it did, the gap quickly went out to over 10 minutes, and it was clear there would be no chase.

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) attacked the break with 25km to go and soloed to the win in Libourne. Yellow-jersey wearer Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Emirates) enjoyed a quiet and mostly uneventful day ahead of the time trial and has two days to go to seal his almost-assured victory.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

Few teams have had a Tour that’s been as up-and-down as Bahrain-Victorious. They lost their likely GC rider, Jack Haig, to an early stage crash, then rebounded to win two consecutive stages in the Alps. Then, just two days ago, French police searched their hotel rooms in a doping investigation. On the heels of that, Mohorič, who’s been one of the strongest breakaway riders this Tour, emerged with a solo stage win sealed with a provocative victory salute: a finger held to his lips followed by a zipping motion.

That gesture has a problematic history in the sport; Lance Armstrong used it in 2004 after chasing down Filippo Simeoni, who had accused Armstrong’s longtime coach, Michele Ferrari, of doping riders (including Simeoni). Mohorič was nine when that happened, so it can be excused some historical ignorance. But even in context of his own team’s last few days in the race, it was a poor decision.

For his part, Pogačar and his UAE team were only too happy to let the break fight it out and ride an easy pace to the finish to save some energy for Saturday’s time trial. With a lead of almost six minutes, Pogačar could likely afford even a spectacularly bad day on the bike (which we don’t expect) and still win.

Another rider who won without having to do much is Deceuninck –Quick-Step’s Mark Cavendish. With breakaway riders taking most of the intermediate sprint points and all of them at the finish, he stands 35 points clear of Michael Matthews in the green jersey standings. There are no points in the time trial, and a maximum of 70 on offer for the final stage in Paris. Cavendish will no doubt try for a fifth Tour stage win and the outright record for most stage wins ever at the race, but even if he’s just close to Matthews, he’s guaranteed green as long as he stays upright.

Who’s Winning the Tour de France?

In a repeat of Wednesday’s stage result, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won Thursday’s Stage 18 to remain the leader of the 2021 Tour de France. The Slovenian went on the attack to defend his already-insurmountable lead, launching his first acceleration 3km from the top of the day’s final climb, and then attacking again inside the final kilometer to win his second stage of the Tour.

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (INEOS-Grenadiers) again finished second and third on the day, but were gapped by Pogačar in the run-in to the finish in Luz Ardiden and lost two seconds on the Tour’s General Classification. They now sit 5:45 and 5:51 behind the yellow jersey.

As long as he stays upright between now and Sunday, Pogačar will win the 2021 Tour de France.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour de France?

The last two days illustrated the cruelty of the Tour de France, as Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo)—who entered Wednesday’s stage in second-place overall but couldn’t hang with the leaders on the final climb of Stage 17—continued to implode. Dropped by the group of GC contenders about 3km from the summit of the Tourmalet, Uran lost 9 minutes by the stage finish. In two days, the Colombian has gone from second to tenth overall.

So with three days left to race, it’s safe to say that Pogačar will take home the yellow jersey as the winner of the Tour’s General Classification as well as the white jersey as the Tour’s Best Young Rider. Now, thanks to winning his second summit finish in a row, the Slovenian will also win the polka-dot jersey as the Tour’s King of the Mountains. That means for two years running, the Slovenian will leave the Tour with three jerseys—an impressive achievement.

Early in the stage, Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) led the peloton through the Intermediate Sprint in Pouzac, extending his lead in the Tour’s green jersey competition by two points. Cavendish, who finished the stage within the time limit, has an advantage of 38 points over Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) heading into the Tour’s final three stages, two of which we expect to end in field sprints.

With lots of points left to be won, this competition is still too close to call, making it the race’s most interesting storyline as we head into the Tour’s final weekend.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won Stage 17 atop the Hors Categorie Col du Portet, extending his already sizeable lead in the 2021 Tour de France. Clearly eager to win a stage while wearing the yellow jersey, the Slovenian dropped his two breakaway companions 100 meters from the finish line.

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (INEOS-Grenadiers) finished second and third on the day, and in doing so moved up to second and third overall, 5:39 and 5:43 behind Pogačar on the Tour’s General Classification.

Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates squad rode a fantastic stage, especially Poland’s Rafal Majka, who paced the yellow jersey halfway up the final climb, dropping several of the riders left in the leading group before pulling-off about 8.4km from the summit. At that point, Pogačar launched the first of a series of accelerations, pulling away with Vingegaard and Carapaz to fight for the stage win.

Carapaz tried to win the stage for himself with an acceleration 1.4km from the summit, but Pogačar easily covered the move, biding his time before launching his own stage-winning attack right before the finish line.

By winning the stage, Pogačar also took maximum points in the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition, which means that for the second year in a row, the Slovenian could take home three jerseys: yellow for winning the Tour, white for being the Tour’s Best Young Rider, and polka dot for winning the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition. Dutch rider Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) leads the competition, but could have his hands full if Pogačar has another day like he did on Stage 17.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

With only four stages left—including the largely ceremonial final stage to Paris—it’s safe to say that Tadej Pogačar will win the 2021 Tour de France. Only a sudden illness, a crash, or some other unexpected mishap could keep the Slovenian from defending his victory in last year’s Tour.

Thursday brings the Tour’s final day in the mountains with a short stage featuring the Col du Tourmalet and a summit finish in Luz Ardiden. But with more than five minutes over the riders chasing him on the Tour’s General Classification, the Tour is Pogačar’s to lose.

Stage 17 also seems to have determined the two riders who will join Pogačar on the Tour’s final podium in Paris, with Vingegaard and Carapaz proving to be the Tour’s two strongest riders not named “Tadej Pogačar.”

In that sense, Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) was the day’s biggest loser. The 34-year-old started the day second overall, but was unable to follow Pogačar, Vingegaard, and Carapaz when they surged ahead midway up the final climb. Uran ultimately lost 1:49 on the day, falling to fourth in the overall standings, and most likely, he lost his chances of a podium finish in Paris.

And good news for fans of Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step): the peloton stayed together until the base of the day’s first categorized climb, which means the British rider had an easier time finishing the stage within the time limit. He did lose one point to Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) in the Tour’s green jersey competition at the Intermediate Sprint in Luchon, but Cav’s YOLO Tour de France continues, with two more chances (on Friday and Sunday) for the Manx Missile to break the record for the most stage wins in Tour history. Only one more day in the mountains stands between Cavendish and his two shots at making history.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Austria’s Patrick Konrad (BORA-hansgrohe) took a rainy win in Saint Gaudens on Stage 16 of the 2021 Tour de France. Also awarded the prize for being the day’s Most Aggressive Rider, the 29-year-old Austrian national champion dropped his breakaway companions on the Col de Portet-Aspet and went on alone to take the most important victory of career. Italy’s Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Victorious) finished second and Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) finished third.

Despite finishing in a small group 14 minutes behind Konrad, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) held onto the yellow jersey as the leader of the Tour’s General Classification. Ahead of back-to-back summit finishes in the high Pyrenees, the Slovenian leads Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) by 5:18 and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) by 5:32. Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (INEOS-Grenadiers) sits fourth at 5:33.

It was an intense start to the day; cold temperatures and a peloton that couldn’t quite figure out how it wanted the race made it hard for a breakaway to escape. But once it did, the break’s advantage over the group, containing the yellow jersey, began to balloon.

The peloton got a spark on the final climb of the day, the Category 4 Côte d’Aspret-Sarrat, when Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) pulled an elite group of the Tour’s top GC contenders away from the bunch. In the end, the top of the classification remained unchanged, but the move provided a preview of the aggressive racing we can expect to see over the next two days.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

The 2021 Tour de France will likely be decided on one of the next two stages as back-to-back summit finishes will give the riders chasing Pogačar two more opportunities to try and chip away at the Slovenian’s substantial lead. It will take a Herculean effort, as Pogačar has shown few signs of weakness so far, but with Hors Categorie climbs like the Col du Portet (Stage 17) and the Col du Tourmalet (Stage 18) on tap, the stage is set for riders and teams hoping to launch a long-range assault on the yellow jersey and his weakening team.

While the Tour’s General Classification remained largely unchanged, Stage 16 did see some movement in the race for the green jersey as the winner of the Tour’s Points Classification. Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) has led the competition since winning Stage 4, but Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) has been steadily getting closer to Cavendish’s lead. By taking fourth at the Intermediate Sprint in Vic d’Oust and finishing third on the stage, Matthews added 35 points to his tally and now sits just 37 points behind Cavendish.

Expect the Australian to go on the attack in search of more points at the Intermediate Sprints on Stages 17 and 18, possibly catching Cavendish ahead of Friday’s Stage 19—which we expect to end in a field sprint. This is one competition that’s far from over.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

After more than two weeks of racing, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) wears the yellow jersey as the overall leader of the 2021 Tour de France after Stage 15. The 22-year-old successfully defended his lead on Stage 15, a tough stage through the Pyrenees and into Andorra.

Pogačar’s team was forced to set the pace from the beginning of Stage 15, sitting on the front all day after a group of 32 riders went up the road. Filled with stage hunters, polka dot jersey contenders, and teammates of several of the riders chasing Pogačar, the move forced UAE Team Emirates to sit on the front of the bunch, riding tempo on a day that saw high temperatures and even higher altitude. As a result, Pogačar found himself isolated in the finale, outnumbered by teams like INEOS, Jumbo-Visma, and EF Education-Nippo.

The stage came down to the final climb of the day, the Category 1 Col de Beixalis (6.4km at 8.5%), won by American Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) after spending all day in the breakaway. The 26-year-old Kuss followed the initial accelerations on the steep lower slopes of the climb before finally launching an attack of his own; riding solo over the top of the climb, he led Spain’s Alejandro Valverde by only 20 seconds. But the former mountain biker from Durango, Colorado maintained his lead down the climb’s technical descent, riding solo into Andorra la Vieille to take the biggest win of his career. Valverde finished second and the Netherland’s Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) took third.

While Kuss was riding away to win the stage, riders took turns attacking from the yellow jersey group further down the col with Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (INEOS-Grenadiers), Australia’s Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën Team), Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) each making attacks to try and crack Pogačar. But the Slovenian covered every acceleration, easily defending the yellow jersey.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates team continues to look weaker and weaker as the Tour progresses. The team chose not to place a rider in the day’s big breakaway today, a tactical mistake as the Slovenian found himself completely isolated at the top of the Port d'Envalira, the day’s penultimate climb. INEOS, on the other hand, put Dylan van Baarle and Jonathan Castroviejo in the breakaway and both dropped back at the summit to wait for Geraint Thomas and Richard Carapaz in the GC group, giving Carapaz three teammates to help him through the final hour of racing.

But in the end, it didn’t matter much, as Pogačar had no problems defending the yellow jersey on his own. Attacked by each of the riders chasing him, the Slovenian remained calm, covering each acceleration and even taking a few digs of his own as if to remind everyone, “This is my Tour de France.” And he might be right.

Pogačar enters the Tour’s second Rest Day leading Uran by 5:18 and Vingegaard by 5:32, with Carapaz in fourth at 5:33. At some point soon, these three riders will start attacking one another in a bid to stand beside Pogačar on the final podium in Paris. This will benefit the Slovenian, as he can sit back and watch his closest competitors try and eliminate one another, following their moves in defense of his yellow jersey.

What About the Tour’s Other Classifications?

Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) survived another tough day in the mountains and wears the green jersey as the leader of the Tour’s Points Classification. Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) is second, 72 points behind Cavendish. Assuming Cavendish makes it through the rest of the Pyrenees, he should win the second green jersey of his career.

Poels did enough on Stage 15 to take back the polka dot jersey as the leader of the Tour’s King of the Mountains classification. He leads Canada’s Mike Woods (Isreal Start-Up Nations) by 8 points and Colombia’s Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) by 10. With three more days in the mountains, this competition is far from over.

And as he’s only 22 years old, Pogačar leads the Tour’s Best Young Rider competition. But Vingegaard, who’s currently second in the classification, wears the white jersey since even Pogačar can’t wear two jerseys at once.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

After several days of trying, Trek-Segafredo finally broke through with a win on Stage 14, as Bauke Mollema joined the day’s main breakaway and then attacked with more than 40km to go and soloed to the finish. Overall leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Emirates) had a fairly quiet day in the main pack, content to let the break fight it out ahead of Sunday’s crucial stage in the Pyrenees. Thanks to his ride in the break, Guillaume Martin of Cofidis jumped up seven spots on the overall and is in second place now ahead of EF Education-Nippo’s Rigoberto Uran.

With just seven stages left after today, chances for success are rapidly dwindling for teams that haven’t yet won a stage or led a major jersey competition. The action on Stage 14 was furious from the start, with numerous riders trying and failing to establish a breakaway. The successful move didn’t get established until almost halfway into the stage when a series of attacks led to a group of 14 riders out front.

Over the climbs and descents, cooperation was a bit ragged, with a few accelerations (and a crash by Rusty Woods), until Mollema decided he’d had enough and launched clear with 43km to go. It was a bold move, with expected headwinds late in the race, but Mollema paced his effort perfectly and was never in jeopardy of being caught. Trek-Segafredo becomes the eighth team (out of 23 in the race) to win a stage of this year’s Tour; Deceuninck-Quick Step leads with five victories, four by Mark Cavendish.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

It was a largely uneventful day for overall race leader Pogačar. None of the riders in the break were serious threats to his lead, and even Martin’s presence and rise up the overall classification could theoretically work in Pogačar's favor in the Pyrenees.

With the 2nd-7th spots on overall time separated by just 2:26, riders may start to think about defending or attacking for podium spots as much as to unseat Pogačar. Guillaume’s addition to the mix, in second overall now, means one more rival for riders to mark, and even if Pogačar is isolated, he could play riders’ ambitions against each other to force them to chase if one attacks.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Mark Cavendish is unstoppable right now. You know the story: the winningest sprinter in Tour history even before this year, his career was almost in the dumpster last fall before he signed a minimum contract with his old team, Deceuninck-Quick Step for one last shot. His revival has been nothing short of spectacular; he’s won almost a third of this year’s Tour stages so far and leads the green jersey standings by more than 100 points over the next-best rider. His biggest threat isn't another rider; it’s getting over the Pyrenees to make it to Paris.

And he seems to be able to win no matter the circumstances: with a perfect leadout like Stage 10, or surfing wheels. Today, his DQS team was in control until a big crash at 62km to go brought down almost two dozen riders, including DQS workhorse Tim DeClerq (he was the last rider to finish). Without his steady tempo at the front, that forced the team to use up World Champion Julian Alaphilippe early, and the team wasn’t able to control the race. In a risky move, it eased up in the final 10km to save its energy for the final.

With under a kilometer to go, Cavendish was a little too far back, but managed somehow to leapfrog Nacer Bouhanni and regain the wheel of his trusted leadout man, Michael Mørkøv, in time for the final burst. Mørkøv, the best in the sport at his job, was so effective he finished second. Alpecin-Fenix’s Jasper Philipsen was third; it’s the fifth time he’s been on the stage podium this Tour, but hasn’t broken through yet for a win.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

In the overall standings, Pogačar and his UAE-Emirates team took advantage of a day when DQS did most of the work. While he was briefly without teammates in the final, nervous 25km where there were crosswinds, he had little trouble keeping himself in a good position. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) round out the podium.

The crash, however, knocked three more riders out of the race: Simon Yates and Lucas Hamilton (BikeExchange) and Lotto-Soudal’s Roger Kluge were forced out with injuries. There are 151 riders left; that’s more dropouts already than either of the last two Tours had at the finish in Paris.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Despite finishing almost 16 minutes behind Germany’s Nils Politt (BORA-Hansgrohe), the Stage 12 winner, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) remained the overall leader of the 2021 Tour de France. The 22-year-old finished safely in the peloton at the end of Stage 12 in Nîmes and still leads Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) by 5:18 and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) by 5:32 on the Tour’s General Classification.

On a day most expected to end in a field sprint, the breakaway survived as the peloton, tired from Wednesday’s double-dose of Mont Ventoux, was content to let a group of out-of-contention rouleurs ride away to a large advantage. Winds played a role in the action: crosswinds during the first hour helped the breakaway escape and more crosswinds in the final hour gave the break’s strongest riders an opportunity to leave their colleagues behind.

In the end, Germany’s Nils Politt (BORA-hansgrohe) took the stage victory. A former runner-up in Paris-Roubaix, the 27-year-old attacked his two companions with about 11km to go, riding away to take the first grand tour stage victory of his career. And the win couldn’t have come at a better time as earlier in the day his teammate, Peter Sagan, abandoned the Tour to prepare for the Olympics. Spain’s Imanol Erviti (Movistar) and Australia’s Harry Sweeny (Lotto-Soudal) held on behind Politt to finish second and third, 31 seconds later.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

The Tour’s General Classification remained unchanged after Stage 12, but with none of the sprinters’ teams willing to take responsibility for chasing down the breakaway, Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates teammates were forced to spend all day on the front.

With several hard days in the Pyrenees still to come, stages like this can have an accumulative effect on the team defending the yellow jersey, forcing them to burn matches (as the saying goes) on a day when other other teams can sit back and recover. If Pogačar has indeed peaked a bit too soon, he’ll need the support of his team to protect his advantage. Stages like Thursday’s might make that task more challenging.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

After two trips up and down Mont Ventoux, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) remained the overall leader of the 2021 Tour de France. But it wasn’t easy as the Slovenian was dropped by Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 2km from the top of the second ascent of the mountain. Pogačar, Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo), and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (INEOS-Grenadiers) were able to catch the young Dane on the descent to the stage finish in Malaucène, but for the first time in this year’s Tour, Pogačar looked vulnerable—at least for a moment.

Up the road, Belgium’s Wout van Aert made it a banner day for Jumbo-Visma, winning the stage after attacking the remnants of the day’s big breakaway on the lower slopes of the second ascent of Ventoux. Unable to stay with van Aert, Trek-Segafredo teammates Kenny Elissonde and Bauke Mollema finished second and third.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

Pogačar still has a commanding lead in the Tour’s General Classification: 5:18 over Uran and 5:32 over Vingegaard. But midway through the three-week race, we can’t help but wonder if his efforts during the Tour’s first “week” (Stages 1 through 9) are starting to catch up to him. Has he peaked too soon? And if he has, does his team have the strength to protect his advantage?

The three riders with the best chances of challenging him have emerged—Uran, Vingegaard, and Carapaz—but they’ll need to work together (for now) to try and crack Pogačar and his teammates before worrying about their own results. There are plenty of opportunities for them to get the job done in the Pyrenees, but without a concerted, strategic effort, it might not happen.

Speaking of opportunities, INEOS might have missed one today. The team controlled the stage as if it were defending the yellow jersey, essentially giving Pogačar and his team a free ride throughout much of the day. Had they forced UAE Team Emirates to set the pace would Pogačar have cracked sooner? And would INEOS have had more riders left at the end to help make it happen? We’ll never know, but if this Tour gets closer before it ends on July 18th, the British superteam might look back on today and wonder “What if?”

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) remained the overall leader of the 2021 Tour de France after finishing safely in the leading peloton at the end of Stage 10 in Valence. The 22-year-old still leads Australia’s Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroen) by 2:01 and Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) by 5:18.

Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) won the stage, putting the finishing touches on a dominant performance by his team. The 33rd stage victory of his career, Cavendish now sits one win away from tying Eddy Merckx’s record of 34, and two away from ... well, we don’t want to jinx it.

The final hour of racing was intense, with Quick Step driving the pace. At one point, the peloton broke into echelons on the windswept run-in to finish, briefly distancing Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), but the Tour’s main favorites came back together before the finish. The final sprint was a masterclass in how to lead-out a field sprint, with Quick Step—and Cavendish—taking everyone to school. Belgians Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) finished second and third.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

Of the riders chasing Pogačar (or more realistically, seeking to join him on the Tour’s final podium), Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo), Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) were the quickest to pounce when Pogačar began to struggle in the crosswinds near the end of the stage. Vingegaard was particularly aggressive, riding alongside van Aert to try and force a selection. The Dane is one of the best time trialists of the GC contenders, and looks like a good bet—at this point—to land on the podium.

Carapaz put in another aggressive ride, but again for no pay-off. He was also isolated for a bit in the crosswinds, leading us to wonder how long it will be before his wasted efforts come back to bite him.

Tomorrow’s stage climbs Mont Ventoux twice and should give us a better idea as to the riders with the best chances of either challenging Pogačar—or finishing beside him in Paris.

Who’s Winning the Tour

It was another day of steady rain for the Tour de France, and riders regularly called up their team cars for deliveries of dry, warm clothing. The initial breakaway was massive, but quickly settled into several groups on the road with an ever-changing mix of leaders going off the front and being re-caught, only for others to counterattack. The winning move emerged when O’Connor joined Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and EF-Nippo’s Sergio Higuita on the penultimate climb, the Cormet de Roselend. He was gapped on the descent, but re-caught the pair and went solo with 17km to go for his first-ever Tour stage (he also won a Giro d’Italia stage two years ago).

With such a large group, Pogačar’s UAE team struggled to keep the time gap in check, and at several points in the race, O’Connor, who started the day in 14th overall, was far enough ahead to be “virtual yellow jersey.” But on the final climb to Tignes, the Ineos Grenadiers team drilled it, partly to keep the gap down and prevent O’Connor from taking yellow, which keeps the pressure on UAE to defend. Pogačar, however, countered with his own late attack, and took another 32 seconds on his challengers.

O’Connor is in second overall, 2:01 down to Pogačar. He’s a solid climber, but has never finished higher than 20th in any of his four Grand Tours so far. Among Pogačar’s more likely possible challengers, there's a lot of work to do. Uran is 5:18 behind, with Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz (Ineos) in 4th and 5th at 5:32. Pogačar enters Monday’s rest day with a massive advantage and is clearly the best rider in the race.

Who’s Not Winning the Tour

As expected, Primož Roglič did not start the stage. After losing major time the previous two days, it was clear that Jumbo’s leader wasn’t recovering from his injuries, making the smart choice to withdraw and heal, perhaps in time for the Olympic road race in a few weeks, and this fall’s Vuelta a España. The team will put its efforts behind Vingegaard for the podium and breakaways; American Sepp Kuss has factored in the break two days in a row, and will likely stay on the offensive in the Pyrenees.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

In the end, Pogačar efforts weren’t enough to net him the stage victory—that honor went to Belgium’s Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Victorious)—but it didn’t matter; with two weeks left to race, the Tour is clearly Pogačar’s to lose. He leads Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) by 1:48 and Kazakhstan's Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) by 4:38.

In addition to winning the stage, Bahrain-Victorious also took control of the Tour’s King of the Mountains classification, with Dutchman Wout Poels earning enough points over the day’s five categorized climbs to pull on the polka dot jersey as the leader of the competition.

Who’s Not Winning the Tour?

Um, anyone not named Tadej Pogačar? Seriously, with one attack Pogačar put minutes into his closest rivals, taking the yellow jersey in a style that calls to mind some of the greatest Tour riders in the sport’s history. But has he done too much too soon?

The short answer is: we’ll see. His team isn’t the strongest in the race, but with Pogačar enjoying the form of his life and holding a big lead, they don’t have to be. Better yet is the fact that many of the riders behind Pogačar on the Tour’s General Classification would be thrilled to finish second or third overall, which means they could give-up on chasing down the Slovenian and instead start worrying more about beating one another. Doing so would essentially concede the Tour to Pogačar, making life much easier for the Slovenian and his teammates.

One rider who’s fallen completely out of contention is Welshman Geraint Thomas (INEOS-Grenadiers). Dropped on the final climb near the end of Stage 7, the 2018 Tour champion was able to rejoin the main group of GC contenders before the finish in Le Creusot. But today he was dropped early and lost over 30 minutes. He finished the stage beside one of the Tour’s other pre-race favorites, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) who has also seen his chances of winning the Tour disappear. Both riders will now be asked to support their teammates, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers), who sit fifth and sixth overall and both have a shot at finishing on the Tour’s final podium in Paris

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Mohorič is often overshadowed by his more-famous Slovenian compatriots, Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič, but today he took center stage with a perfect ride on a long and arduous stage. With his victory, Mohorič joins the club of riders who have won a stage in all three Grand Tours. For his part, Pogačar survived admirably and still leads all of his rivals, but with yellow jersey van der Poel up the road in the break, it fell to Pog’s UAE-Emirates team to do most of the work chasing. Since there are a few question marks about the team’s overall strength, that’s earlier than they’d like to have been forced into action. Elsewhere, Ineos’ Richard Carapaz showed that he’s going to race aggressively. His late-race attack was hauled back right at the line, but expect more from him.

Who’s Not Winning the Tour?

The biggest story was Jumbo-Visma’s Roglič cracking on a late climb and falling down the standings. With the large breakaway (more than 25 riders), the pace was hot from the start. And the course’s length—249.1km—likely made things harder; strange things happen to riders when races go past 220km, especially after a hard week of racing.

But Roglič was clearly not recovering enough from his early-race crash injuries. His ride today, where he lost almost four minutes to his rivals, only underscores that his collapse would have happened sooner or later anyway. Tellingly, when he was dropped on the steep Signal d’Uchon climb, no teammates waited for him, which suggests Jumbo strongly suspected this was a possibility. They’ll likely put their efforts behind 24-year-old Jonas Vingegaard now.

Finally, it’s worth a look at one of the other jersey competitions: Points. Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) has won two stages already in his remarkable comeback from several tough years, but it’s clear he wants more. He jumped in the break and took top points (20) at the intermediate sprint. He now leads the green jersey standings by a large margin, with 168 points to van der Poel’s 103 (van der Poel’s teammate, Jasper Philipsen, is one point back in third). Van der Poel himself didn’t really contest the intermediate sprint and is unlikely to make it to Paris. His main objective this season is the Olympic mountain bike race in just a few weeks, and he’ll need some rest. For all his 32 stage wins at the Tour, Cav has taken green in Paris just once, in 2011. He’d love to add another to the trophy cabinet. If he does, it will be a fantastic achievement. Despite his apparent run of form, it’s worth remembering that he wasn’t even supposed to be here, and his training this year was not designed around doing a three-week race, much less the Tour on a few days’ notice.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Cav’s victory gives him 32 Tour stage wins, just two shy of Eddy Merckx’s overall record, which has stood for 45 years. It’s also Cavendish’s 50th stage win in a Grand Tour. It’s a remarkable comeback for the Manx Missile, who hadn’t won a Tour stage since 2016, and until this season, hadn’t won any races since 2018. Given that Cav wasn’t even slated to be on DQS’s Tour roster until he replaced Sam Bennett, who had a knee injury in early June, it’s even more impressive. Despite inevitable questions about his march on Merckx’s record (a line of inquiry which Cav has made clear he does not appreciate), he’s sprinting with remarkable confidence, dare we say joy. Van der Poel will spend a fifth day in the yellow jersey on Friday, and despite a long and challenging stage on Friday, he is a good bet to hold it until Saturday, the race’s first real mountain stage. Pogačar, the presumptive favorite for the overall, appreciated an uneventful day largely free of crashes and will look forward to Alpecin-Fenix’s defense of yellow for another day, limiting the work his UAE team will have to do.

Who’s Not Winning the Tour?

Through five stages, not a single breakaway has survived to the finish yet. That’s not surprising: breakaways are often caught, and flatter sprint stages, with small moves of less than five riders, have the lowest success rate of any breakaway situation at the Tour. Stage 7 may see that streak finally broken, with a long, 249km day with several tough climbs near the end. But it may not be the early break that succeeds as much as a later move on those ascents.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Van der Poel doesn’t have a strong time trial resume, and today’s stage was both the longest TT he’s ever done and under the biggest spotlight. But he rose to the occasion with solid pacing throughout, hovering between 2nd and 5th at every time check. While his overall lead over Pogačar dwindled to just eight seconds, simply staying in yellow another day is a massive accomplishment for a rider whose main objective this year is actually in a few weeks at the Tokyo Olympics, where he’ll race the mountain bike event.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

No one had a better day than Pogačar, who was fastest at every intermediate time check and gained time—often a lot—on all his challengers. The soonest Pogačar is likely to take yellow is Friday’s unusually long stage, but barring a crash or some major mishap, it’s almost a sure thing he’ll be in the race lead this weekend when the race goes into the Alps.

Elsewhere, contenders have to be asking themselves where are the cracks in Pogačar’s armor. His closest real rival on time is EF Education-Nippo’s Rigoberto Uran, who is almost a minute and a half behind before the mountains even start, and Pogačar is one of the best climbers in the world. INEOS’s Richard Carapaz and last year’s runner-up, Primož Roglič of Jumbo-Visma, are around 1:40 back, and things get more grim from there; there are only five more GC hopefuls within three minutes of Pog on the overall classification. Some of them, like Roglic and INEOS's Geraint Thomas, are dealing with injuries from crashes in the opening stages. There are two possibilities for the coming weeks: Pogačar didn’t lead last year’s Tour until the final day, so he never had to defend yellow, and his team is a question mark in terms of strength. And, Pog is clearly flying right now, but there are more than two weeks left to race. If his form peaked too early, rivals may be able to gain back time late in the race as he fades.

Who’s Winning the Tour?

But it almost didn’t happen. One day after Lotto-Soudal lost sprinter Caleb Ewan to a broken collarbone, Van Moer did his best to win the team a stage. On his first grand tour, the 23-year-old spent all day on the attack with France’s Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis), then left his companion inside the final 10km to go solo. Underestimated by the chasing peloton, the Belgian held on until about 200 meters to go, when the hungry sprinters finally overtook him.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) finished safely within the leading peloton, holding onto the yellow jersey as the overall leader of the Tour. French puncheur Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) sits in second place, only 8 seconds behind the Dutchman; Ecuador’s Richard Capapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) and Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) stand in third and fourth, just 31 seconds behind.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

Stage 5 brings the first of two individual time trials in this year’s Tour de France, a 27km ride from Changé to Laval that should shuffle the Tour’s General Classification. We’ve never seen van der Poel target a time trial before, so it remains to be seen how he’ll fare in terms of defending the yellow jersey. Maybe the yellow jersey will serve as additional inspiration, but with proven time trialists like Alaphilippe and van Aert, and a long rolling course, they’re both good bets to dethrone the Dutchman.

We’ll also be closely watching Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers). Heading into the Tour, Stage 5 was expected to offer the two favorites a chance to distance themselves from the Tour’s other GC contenders. Still, given the injuries they’ve sustained in crashes during the opening stages, they may not be able to take full advantage of their abilities

While his superstar teammate overshadows him, Merlier is a solid sprinter who’s having a career year (like van der Poel, he’s also a top cyclocross racer during the winter season). His Stage 3 win is his second in a Grand Tour after a victory in May’s Giro d’Italia. Not bad for a guy who’d never raced a Grand Tour until this year.

Merlier's victory—and Philipsen’s second-place finish—underscores that Alpecin-Fenix, not Deceuninck-Quick Step, is the top sprint team at this year’s Tour. DQS would be a top rival, but they were in disarray today. Their lead sprinter, Sam Bennett, is home with a knee injury while manager Patrick Lefevere starts needless feuds with him in the press. And Mark Cavendish, who could be the feel-good story of the race if he wins a stage in his return to the sport’s biggest stage, was well off after getting caught up and delayed by the late-stage crashes. Elsewhere, Ewan, another major rival, is now out with a broken collarbone. Van der Poel still leads the overall, eight seconds clear of DQS’s Julian Alaphilippe, who is at the top of the points standings after his fifth-place finish. INEOS Grenadiers’ Richard Carapaz was the only GC rider to finish in the front group. He jumps to third overall.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

The chaotic nature of the opening stages has seen various riders pinball around in the overall standings. Carapaz is a perfect example: he lost 13 seconds on the uphill finish of Stage 1, but today bounced back with his savvy (and lucky) ride. Bora-Hansgrohe’s Wilco Kelderman managed to stay upright, and defending champion Tadej Pogačar lost minimal time after being delayed by a late crash.

Who’s Not Winning the Tour?

Outside of Carapaz, it’s been a dismal opening few stages for INEOS, with crashes for several riders. Thomas fell hard today, less than 40km into the stage, and reportedly suffered a separated shoulder that was reset on site by the team doctor. There’s no word yet on how severe the injury is. Still, it will almost certainly be painfully difficult for Thomas to hold his aerodynamic tuck in Wednesday’s crucial time trial stage, where he’d typically be among the favorites. Jumbo-Visma hasn’t been any luckier, with multiple riders caught in crashes. Team leader Primoz Roglič fell hard with 18km to go today. His team swiftly organized a chase, but they’d no sooner gotten back to the leading group before another crash delayed them. He finished 1:21 down today, but at least X-rays showed no fractures.

Who’s winning the Tour?

It was clear that van der Poel was targeting the stage and the yellow jersey. He launched his first attack on the first of two ascents of the Mûr, taking eight bonus seconds for being the first over the top. Easing back into the bunch, he recovered on the downhill run-in to the final climb to the finish line, then covered attacks by Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) before going off on his own with an acceleration no one could follow.

As he crossed the finish line, he pointed to the sky to honor his deceased grandfather, Raymond Poulidor. One of the Tour’s most beloved heroes, “Pou-Pou,” never had the honor of wearing the yellow jersey despite finishing on the Tour’s final podium eight times. The 10-second time bonus that van der Poel took for winning the stage was enough to put him in yellow though, as France’s Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) finished fourth on the day, eight seconds back. Van der Poel now leads the Tour by eight seconds over the Frenchman; Pogačar sits third, 13 seconds down.

Who’s really winning the Tour?

We’re only two days into the race, but it’s clear that last year’s top two finishers, Slovenians Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), aren’t wasting any time. Both riders scored bonus seconds behind van der Poel on the day’s first climb of the Mûr de Bretagne, and the duo pulled away from the rest of the leading group to score more bonus seconds at the finish. If this keeps up, we could be headed for a Tour even closer than last year’s, when Pogačar overtook Roglič in the final time trial to win the Tour.

The Tour’s other top GC contenders are expected to come from INEOS Grenadiers, whose four-headed GC-monster became a 2-headed GC-monster in yesterday’s crashes. Both Richie Porte and Tao Geoghegan Hart lost lots of time, leaving the team to ride for Geraint Thomas and Richard Carapaz. Carapaz was the best finisher today; the Ecuadorian finished in the leading group of contenders, 8 seconds behind van der Poel. Thomas lost a bit of time, leading in the next group another 15 seconds down. He should recoup the time lost to his teammate in Wednesday’s individual time trial, but it will remain interesting to see how the hierarchy within the team continues to evolve over the course of the Tour’s first week.

The 2021 Tour de France got off to a banging start—literally—on Saturday with its opening road stage. The Grand Depart in Brittany, with its small roads and sharp climbs, was always going to be nervous, but Stage 1 was most notable for two huge crashes in the last third of the stage.

The first, caused by a heedless fan who held a cardboard sign in front of the riders, brought down roughly a third of the field. The second, a touch of wheels at high speed with less than 10km to go, took out almost as many and upset many teams’ plans for the final climb to the finish at Landerneau. Amazingly, only three riders failed to finish, but any number are banged up.

Who’s winning the Tour?

World Champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) was both smart and lucky enough to avoid both wrecks, and took the stage win and the race’s first yellow jersey with a bold attack from more than 2km out on the climb. Other riders, sensing he’d gone too soon, hesitated to follow, but Alaphilippe’s jump worked perfectly and he soloed in for the win eight seconds ahead of the chase, led by BikeExchange’s Michael Matthews. That’s key: with bonus seconds for his victory, Alaphilippe is 12 seconds clear of anyone else in the overall standings. It might not sound like much, but for a rider of Alaphilippe’s formidable abilities it’s an eternity, and barring crashes—fingers crossed—he should easily defend the lead at least until the first time trial on Stage 5.

Who’s not winning the Tour?

Israel Start-Up Nation. ISN entered the Tour with high hopes on several levels. Dan Martin was an ideal stage-win hope for Stages 1 and 2, while Michael “Rusty” Woods was in excellent shape and aiming for a high overall finish. The team was heavily impacted by the day’s crashes, however, with several riders, including four-time Tour winner Chris Froome and sprinter Andre Greipel, going down hard (Froome was slow to get up and grimaced as he was examined by medical staff). The team’s top finisher was Guillaume Boivin, more than a minute down. Woods crossed the line nearly nine minutes back, his hopes for the general classification completely shredded almost before the race is underway. And Froome and several others were among the stage’s final finishers, which suggests they’re pretty banged up. We’ll be unsurprised if there are a couple of did-not-starts on the results sheet for Stage 2.As the well-worn saying goes, you don’t win the Tour on the first day, but you sure can lose it. Several other GC hopefuls (Movistar’s Miguel Angel Lopez of Movistar; Guillaume Martin of Cofidis, and Richie Porte of INEOS) also saw serious time losses, but it’s hard to think of a team that saw its Tour hopes more thoroughly destroyed than ISN.