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| Reuters |
Tadej Pogacar was expected to attack in the Tour de France's first mountain stage, yet it was defending champion Jonas Vingegaard who struck first, leaving the Slovenian worried and hoping he will regain his best form before it is too late.
Pogacar, who attacked several times in the first two hilly stages, lost more than a minute to Dane Vingegaard as his lack of fitness showed in the fifth stage on Wednesday after his preparations were hampered by a fractured wrist in late April.
Vingegaard's brutal acceleration near the top of the Col de Marie Blanque was too much for Pogacar, who had to dig deep to limit the damage.
Australian Jai Hindley won the stage and took the overall leader's yellow jersey from Pogacar's UAE Emirates team mate Adam Yates, with Vingegaard moving up to second, 53 seconds ahead of sixth-placed Pogacar.
The 24-year-old Slovenian, who is often seen with a smile on his face regardless of the circumstances, looked stunned at the finish line after he and his team were caught by surprise.
- Julien Pretot
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