Paris: Riding to second place in the stage 5 individual time trial, Tadej Pogacar took control of the Tour de France and pulled on the Yellow Jersey for the first time this year. The three-time champion was bettered only by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) on the 33km-long course, putting more than a minute into many of his rivals.
According to Emirates News Agency, losing only half a second per kilometre to the time trial world champion, Evenepoel, Pogacar came home just 16 seconds down on the Belgian. With the time of 36:58 enough to see Pogacar finish second on stage 5, the road race world champion moves into the lead of the race with a 42-second advantage over the second-placed Evenepoel.
Not content with Yellow, Pogacar also now leads both the King of the Mountains and Points classifications heading into stage 6. The Slovenian spoke of his delight with his performance after the stage, before turning his attention to the days ahead.
Elsewhere, Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Joo Almeida produced a respectable ride to place eighth on the day, leaving him seventh place in the general classification. The Portuguese rider has enjoyed a stellar season to date and with less than two minutes separating himself in seventh from Pogacar in Yellow, the 26-year-old will remain a crucial card to play for the Emirati squad as the race heads deeper into the race.
After the first test against the clock of this year's Tour de France, over one minute now separates Pogacar in Yellow from two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in fourth. The Danish rider is 1:13 behind the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader, with Ark©a-BandB Hotels' K©vin Vauquelin producing a stellar time trial to position him in third overall.
