Tadej Pogacar closes in on third Tour de France victory

Field Level Media|published: Sat 20th July, 13:32 2024

A signed yellow jersey awarded to legendary american cyclist Greg Lemond in the Tour de France is seen in College Cyclery in Midtown Reno on Feb. 8, 2023. The store recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of being in business. Ren College Cyclery 04

Overall leader Tadej Pogacar won his fifth stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, giving him what should be an insurmountable lead heading into the final day of the race.

Pogacar, a 25-year-old Slovenian, outsprinted two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard to take Stage 20, a 132.8-kilometer stretch from Nice to Col de la Couillole. It's the final stage ahead of Sunday's ride back to the finish line in Nice.

He has 33.7 kilometers remaining from Monaco to Nice on the individual time trials before he can win his third Tour de France. He was victorious in back-to-back races in 2020 and 2021.

With Saturday's victory, Pogacar became the first rider to win five stages in one Tour de France since Marcel Kittel of Germany did it in 2017.

Pogacar bested Denmark's Vingegaard by seven seconds in Stage 20 to take a lead of five minutes, 14 seconds into the final day.

--Field Level Media

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