En route to a convincing victory in the Tour de France that quashed rumours that rival Jonas Vingegaard would gain the upper hand, yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogačar smashed the record held by Marco Pantani at Plateau de Beille, dealing a massive blow to the general classification.
The UAE Team Emirates rider climbed the 15.8km climb in a time of 39:41, beating Pantani’s record by 3:40, a record that had stood since 1998 when Pantani set it during his first appearance in the Tour.
In 2007, Alberto Contador came close to setting the fastest pace with a time of 44:08 to take his first overall Tour victory.
The Plateau de Beille has been used as a summit finish of the Tour six times since 1998, when ‘Il Pirata’ gained time on his rivals to claim the elusive Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double – a feat Pogačar will be trying to emulate this year, the first time he has ridden two Grand Tours in the same season.
“I’m too young to remember Pantani when he was alive, but I would like to achieve what Pantani did. I know how important he was for cycling in Italy and the rest of the world,” Pogačar said earlier this year.
Pogačar made his mark on the second weekend of racing at the Tour, with back-to-back victories in the Pyrenees, at Pla d’Adet on Saturday and then at Plateau de Beille on Sunday. And like Pantani, the Slovenian covered an attack from and then left his nearest rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease A Bike) behind him, to take a solo victory on stage 15, his third stage win – so far – in the three-week race.
A new Tour de France victory puts him at 14 on par with the great sprinter Marcel Kittel, one victory behind Freddy Maertens and only two behind legends such as Charles Pélissier and Jacques Anquetil at 25.
Get unlimited access to all our Tour de France coverage, including breaking news and analysis from our journalists on the ground, from every stage of the race as it happens and much more. Find out more
