Slovenia's cycling superstar dominates Tour de France time trial
Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar asserted dominance at this year's Tour de France once again having won stage 13, a short but intense individual time trial, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
Taking additional time out of his biggest rival, Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, Pogačar further cemented his overall lead. Another Slovenian did great in the uphill time trial as Primož Roglič placed third.
Going into the second and final time trial of this year's race on the wings of winning the previous stage and delivering a lethal blow to the aspirations of his rivals, Pogačar ( UAE Team Emirates-XRG) seemed calm and collected. As the general classification leader, he was the last one to go and it soon became clear he had another story of dominance to tell.
Facing the course leading up to the ski resort Peyragudes, one of the most iconic climbs in recent Tour history, which packs an extra punch in the final few hundred metres, he showed a metronomic, relentless effort that has become his signature style in the mountains.
Pogi, as he is called by his fans, finished the 10.9km stage in 23 minutes, or 36 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who placed second to remain second in the general classification. The Slovenian now has a GC lead of four minutes and seven seconds ahead of the Dane.
This is Pogačar's fourth stage win of the 2025 Tour de France and aged 26, he is the youngest rider to have ever won 21 Tour stages. He has so far notched up 103 career wins.
Talking to the organisers after stage 13 he said he was super happy about the win.
"This time trial was quite a big question mark, already in December, for me. I wanted everything to be perfect and the team delivered in the final moment."
"I started the day good. I had an easy day in the morning, and then a nice preparation. I was targeting to go all out from the start to the finish ... I almost blew up in the end but I saw the timer on the top [of the finish] and it gave me an extra push because I saw I was going to win."
The Slovenian decided to go without the radio on the latest time trial and rely on time checks, doing it on instinct and feeling. Before the time trial, there was a lot of speculation on whether he intended to opt for a bicycle specifically designed for this discipline or stick with the road bike, which he did in the end.
"This was the biggest decision to make - which bike today. Obviously we're racing on road bikes most of the year, like 99% of the time we are on road bikes. We did calculations. If you cannot push on the TT bike as much as on the road bike ... I decided to be more comfortable and ride on the same bike I've ridden for the last 12 stages, and it worked out well for me," he said, adding that the time difference would not have been big anyway regardless of the bike.
At a post-stage 12 press conference, the reigning world champion spoke candidly about his current form, saying: "I feel at the best moment of my career."
"I'm riding in the rainbow jersey, I ride with an amazing team, so it's like a fairytale for me ... I think once this fire goes out, I will probably decline in performance but I'd say that now is the peak of my career, and I'll try to hold it as long as I enjoy it."
Roglič, a Slovenian veteran rider and Olympic champion in individual time trial from the Tokyo Games, was third on stage 13, and he remains seventh in the general classification.
The 35-year-old told TV Slovenija that he did not expect such an outcome.
"I gave it my all and it was a bit faster than yesterday. I enjoyed it but I'd be lying if I said it was easy."
