TADEJ POGACAR CELEBRATES HIS 3RD TOUR THE FRANCE VICTORY IN STYLE WITH ANOTHER AUDACIOUS STAGE WIN

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 Tadej Pogacar had no need to attack on the final stage of the Tour de France. Defending a lead of more than five minutes in Sunday's time trial, he was set to comfortably win the race for the third time and first time in three years, anyway.

But defense has not been in his vocabulary during this race and he simply could not resist another attack.

With his main rival Jonas Vingegaard unable to challenge him, Pogacar celebrated his Tour victory in style with a dominant win in the time trial ending in Nice for the 17th stage win of his already illustrious Tour career.

The 25-year-old Slovenian rider also became the first cyclist to secure the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.

“To win both together is another level above,” said Pogacar, who rides for UAE Team Emirates. “I think this is the first Grand Tour where I was totally confident every day. Even at the Giro I remember I had one bad day. This year, the Tour was just amazing. I was enjoying it from day one.”

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The two-time defending champion Vingegaard of Denmark was second overall. He also finished the 21st and final stage in second place.

Pogacar won the 34-kilometer (21-mile) time trial on the French Riviera's roads from Monaco to Nice in 45 minutes, 24 seconds. Vingegaard was 1 minute, 3 seconds behind him and Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel 1:14 back in third spot.

In the overall standings, Vingegaard finished 6:17 behind Pogacar and Evenepoel was third overall, 9:18 behind Pogacar — whose other Tour wins came in 2020 and 2021.

"I’m super happy. I cannot describe how happy I am after two hard years in the Tour de France," Pogacar said. “This year everything (was) perfection.”

The race did not finish in Paris as it usually does because of the Olympic Games. Nice mayor Christian Estrosi called the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the southern French Alps “perfect cycling territory.”

From early Sunday morning, fans camped along the popular Promenade des Anglais in Nice to guard a spot that would offer the best glimpse of cyclists.

Some fans chanted “Remco, Remco” as the race-against-the-clock specialist zoomed past them.

They may have been surprised to see Pogacar going flat out.

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After his explosive attack on Friday, Pogacar said he would not try to win Saturday’s stage. Yet he still won it to become the second man to clinch five mountain stages in one Tour after Italian rider Gino Bartali in 1948.

Pogacar led Vingegaard overnight by 5 minutes, 14 seconds. But the lure of another stage win proved too strong and he flew down the winding roads past picturesque Èze and Villefranche-sur-Mer on the approach to Nice, where the route flattened out again.

Pogacar held out three fingers as the finish line and a sixth stage win approached on this year’s Tour — the same number of stages he won when dominating the Giro d’Italia.

It was Pogacar’s biggest winning margin of his three Tour wins — beating the 5:20 gap on Vingegaard three years ago, but below the 7:29 victory margin Vingegaard enjoyed over Pogacar last year.

The battle with Vingegaard was not as close as it might have been in different circumstances.

The 27-year-old Vingegaard was hospitalized for nearly two weeks in April following a high-speed crash in the Tour of the Basque Country. He resumed competitive racing only on this Tour.

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“Under normal circumstances, I would be disappointed with my Tour de France. But, after everything I’ve gone through, I can’t be disappointed," Vingegaard said. “I would have loved to go a bit further, but it is what it is. I would like to come back to the Tour de France and win it again ... I believe the yellow jersey is the most beautiful jersey in road cycling.”

Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz won the best climber's polka dot jersey while Eritrea's Biniam Girmay won the top sprinter's green jersey and the 24-year-old Evenepoel capped a fine debut Tour with the white jersey for best young rider.

“I feel like I’m floating through the sky. It’s super nice," Girmay said. "I just want to say for the young kids, keep working hard and everything is possible.”

- JEROME PUGMIRE

TADEJ POGACAR WINS MOUNTAINOUS 14TH STAGE OF TOUR DE FRANCE

Tadej Pogacar is ahead by nearly two minutes with just over a week to go in the Tour de France. Tim de Waele/Getty Images

Two-time champion Tadej Pogacar surged ahead on the final climb to win the mountainous 14th stage of the Tour de France on Saturday and extend his overall lead to nearly two minutes.

The elite climbers' duel between Pogacar and two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard finally came when Pogacar peeled away with about 3 miles left.

"I love racing on instinct," Pogacar said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I love it that way."

Pogacar caught up with and overtook his UAE Emirates teammate Adam Yates, while Vingegaard was initially dropped but showed good composure to limit the damage.

The Dane crossed the line 39 seconds behind Slovenian Pogacar, who completed the 199-mile trek in just over four hours.

"Let's keep this positive energy so we can win more," Pogacar said. "I was feeling really good today."

Remco Evenepoel of Belgium was third and dropped to third overall behind Vingegaard.

"I stayed with him a little, but he rode faster and faster and I was dropped," Evenepoel said. "The pace was very high."

After about two hours, riders reached the first of the day's two big "hors catégorie" (beyond category) climbs -- a 12-mile grind up the Col du Tourmalet, one of the race's most famed Pyrenean climbs.

The second HC climb to the finish at Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet was shorter at 7 miles but had a steeper gradient.

Irishman Ben Healy attacked first but was caught by Yates, who set up Pogacar for the 13th stage win of his Tour career.

"I must say a big thank you to the team today," said Pogacar, who won his second Tour in 2021. "They were amazing, and this victory is for all my teammates."

Time bonuses for the victory added four valuable seconds and extended Pogacar's lead over Vingegaard to 1 minute, 57 seconds.

"It's a good lead, but you never know," Pogacar said. "There is a long way to go."

Evenepoel was 2:22 behind Pogacar heading into another big mountain stage Sunday.

A group of 10 riders formed a breakaway in Saturday's stage, moving four minutes ahead of the yellow jersey group approaching the Tourmalet ascent.

But with Nils Politt riding tempo for Pogacar's team, the breakaway soon shredded to five riders, including Healy.

Approaching the final climb, Healy attacked, and the four others could not follow.

Healy had a chance to win his first Tour stage and a second in major races after a stage win at the Giro d'Italia last year. But those hopes ended when Yates, followed by Pogacar, overtook him.

Their attack seemed to surprise Vingegaard, who beat Pogacar to win Stage 11 on Wednesday, and it looked as if he would lose significantly more time. But a strong response from the Team Jumbo Visma rider helped him stay within one minute of Pogacar.

Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay, who has won three stages, retained the best sprinter's green jersey.

Ineos Grenadiers' Tom Pidcock did not line up for the stage after experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, but 2018 winner Geraint Thomas, who also tested positive for the coronavirus, opted to race but was soon dropped by the yellow jersey group.

Sunday's 15th stage -- which falls on Bastille Day, France's national day -- features four big climbs before an even harder grind up to Plateau de Beille.

Monday is the second rest day of the three-week race, which this year finishes in Nice rather than Paris because of the Olympic Games.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

- ESPN News Services 

ETITREA'S BINIAM GIRMAY MAKES HISTORY

 Biniam Girmay became the first Black African to win a stage of the world's most prestigious cycling event. He took first in the longest stage on the 2024 Tour de France.

Eritrean Binian Girmay sprinted to victory in stage three of the Tour de FranceImage: Daniel Cole/AP/picture alliance

Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first Black African rider to win a stage in the Tour de France. He sprinted to victory in the third stage of the cycling event to secure victory on Monday.

Girmay said his win was "for all Africans."

"We must be proud now. We are really part of the big races," Girmay said. "Now it's our moment. It's our time."

Tour de France 'already incredible'

The victory came on the third day and the longest stage of this year's race, spanning 230.8 kilometers (roughly 143 miles) between Piacenza and Turin.

It provided the first chance for a mass sprint, and Girmay timed it perfectly to beat Colombian Fernando Gaviria and Belgian Arnaud de Lie, who finished second and third, respectively.

"With my first Tour last year, I acquired experience, and I manage everything better. Winning today is unbelievable," he said.

In the General Classification, Ecuador's Carapaz took the overall leader's yellow jersey from one of the tour favorites, Tadej Pogacar.

Girmay becoming one of the biggest names in cycling

Girmay became the first African to win a one-day classic at Gent-Wevelgem, aged 21.

It was his second Grand Tour stage win after the Giro d'Italia in 2022.

"To be honest, when I went to the Giro I knew I had the level to fight for the win but for the Tour I was thinking I would have to wait [until] 2025, 2026. To win a stage where all the best sprint specialists are present is unbelievable," he said Monday.

South Africans Robbie Hunter and Daryl Impey are the only two other Africans to win a Tour de France stage.

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome was born in Kenya but competed for Britain.

- AP/Reuters