Pogačar relishes role as Del Toro's domestique on Tour's queen stage
Overall Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar said at the finish of stage 19 and the start of stage 20 that a primary objective for the last mountain day of the race was to solidify his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro's podium place and lead in the best young rider classification. With a seven-minute advantage himself, Pogačar could easily turn his attention to other matters, and Del Toro's Tour was chief among them.
After the pair handily achieved both objectives on the final climb of the Col de Sarenne, Pogačar expressed satisfaction in his role as a superdomestique for his young protégé. "It was an honour to ride for Isaac during that last hour and a half," Pogačar said at the finish. "I did it with pleasure, and now I realise just how hard it is to work for someone else."
Pogačar took control of the elite contenders group on the final climb and after a strong dig by Paul Seixas' Decathon-CMA CGM team, Pogačar's acceleration shed the young Frenchman, who later said he had cracked on the climb. At the finish, Pogačar and Del Toro were content to let Remco Evenepoel surge ahead, and Del Toro was by equal turns exhausted and euphoric at the finish line. As the pair of teammates crossed, they performed a brief "horns" celebration in homage to Del Toro's surname, and laughed and hugged as they rolled through the finish.
