All of 48 hours after a rare misstep in a time trial, Tadej Pogačar struck back in characteristic fashion at the Critérium du Dauphiné. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader put in a devastating attack in the challenging finale of stage 6 and left Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and everyone else in the rearview mirror on his way to the finish.
When all was said and done, Pogačar had stormed into the race lead and put 1:01 into Vingegaard and 1:50 into overnight leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), who dropped to fourth overall behind the day's third-place finisher Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
More than simply a decisive stage win, Pogačar landed an even stronger counterpunch after Vingegaard and Evenepoel struck the first blow in the stage 4 TT, adding a whole new layer to the pre-Tour de France narrative.
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