Pogacar smells Tour victory

MANILA, Philippines — Tadej Pogacar climbed to a convincing victory on Stage 19 of the Tour de France on Friday, extending his overall lead over defending champion Jonas Vingegaard to close on a historic Tour-Giro double.

With two tough stages remaining, the 2020 and 2021 Tour de France champion Pogacar leads Vingegaard by five minutes three seconds. Remco Evenepoel remains third, now at seven minutes one second.

Pogacar is also two stages away from a Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double, which would be a first in 26 years.

A dominant and confident Pogacar had promised to attack here on the “Queen” stage with its massive mountains. He came into stage 19 with a three-minute 11-second lead over Vingegaard, with Evenepoel at five minutes 11 seconds in third.

“He set a terrible pace, he was just stronger,” said Belgian Evenepoel. “I was hoping Vingegaard might wilt, but he did well.”

The 2022 and 2023 champion Vingegaard’s sports director Grischa Niermann effectively accepted defeat.