Pogacar climbs to victory in 17th stage of Tour de France

Tadej Pogacar won the 17th stage of the Tour de France at the top of the Col de Portet on Wednesday, consolidating his Yellow Jersey after a gripping final climb.

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar won stage 17 after a stern test on a giant mountain. Philippe LOPEZ AFP

The Slovenian beat Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz – who came second and third respectively – the only two riders who managed to follow him to the finish.

A 178.4km mountain trek from Muret to the Col de Portet provided a good opportunity for a shake-up in the overall Tour standings.

🎙 Hear from 🇸🇮 @tamaupogi after his first win in the @MaillotjauneLCL ⬇️#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/1T3E6S5mlA

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 14, 2021

After bursting away 8.4km from the top of the Pyreneean pass, Pogacar was able to clinch his first stage win in this year's Tour.

He leads Vingegaard by five minutes, 39 seconds with Carapaz in third place, a further four seconds back. Meanwhile Colombian Rigobrto Uran slipped down to fourth, just over seven minutes off the pace, after cracking in the mist of the Col du Portet.

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“The team worked really hard every day to defend yellow,” Podacar said after his victory.

“The guys did a fantastic job. We were 50/50 to go for the stage or just defend, but everybody felt good and in the end we succeeded.”