Pogacar is already leader of the Tour de France after winning in Longwy News

Van Aert exhibited himself in the escape but succumbed and gave the yellow to the powerful Pogacar

The Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) won the sixth stage of the Tour de France this Thursday, disputed between Binche and Longwy over 219.9 kilometres, and will also wear the leader's yellow jersey after Wout van Aert (Jumbo -Visma) tried a feat as an escapee that left him busted.

Pogacar messed it up on the pavés of the fifth stage and achieved a margin of at least 13 seconds over most of its rivals. This time, in a very classic finish on the longest stage of this French round, he crushed the rest again in a sprint that swooped upwards to show that he is the strongest of the moment.

After a very fast day marked by the fight for the escape and with that brutal adventure of Van Aert - he gave 7:28 minutes at the finish line -, Pogacar is already the leader of the provisional general classification ahead of a Neilsson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) who will not be the leader due to the goal bonus for the Slovenian, who remains unstoppable at the start of the Tour.

The 800 meters of the Cote de Pulventeux (3rd category, with an average gradient of 12.3 percent) 6 kilometers from the finish line were not as key as expected. Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies), who does not aspire to win the Tour, attacked them and Pogacar stuck his head out as a warning. Little more.

Tadej Pogacar's change of pace did serve to eliminate many sprinters who were already with their tongues hanging out. The Australian Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) stayed with the best, but he was second at the finish line without being able to dispute the victory with the new leader, who changed the white jersey from the best youngster to the yellow one from the absolute best.

Although yesterday it was Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) who was the most affected by a fall --he dislocated his shoulder and lost about two minutes with his compatriot--, this time it was Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe) and the Spanish Enric Mas ( Movistar Team) those who stuck. The one from BORA, which went to the ground, even more so, lost 5 seconds. The Balearic, who did not fall, rejoined and entered with the best.

This day brought us another exhibition of Wout van Aert. Few riders are capable of doing what he did, least of all wearing the leader's yellow jersey. In the longest stage of this Tour de France, the Belgian fought to get into the break of the day alongside Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) and Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) and ended up, obviously, going solo in a weight pulse against the peloton.

Despite the fact that it took more than 70 kilometers to make the escape of the day, with previous attacks by important men such as Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) or the current champion Pogacar himself, Van Aert finally achieved his objective and could not be hunted until 11, 1 km from the finish. There he ended his adventure and his leadership, because in the end he could not keep up with the great group. But he said goodbye to yellow with courage, honor and giving a great show.

This Friday comes the mountain and the first uphill finish of this Tour, which will be at La Super Planche des Belles Filles, which they will reach after 176.3 kilometers from the start at Tomblaine and after overcoming two 3rd category climbs (Col from Grosse Pierre and Col des Croix).

The final climb will be to La Super Planche des Belles Filles, a 7-kilometre category 1 climb with an average gradient of 8.7 percent and many long stretches above 10 percent, and with a final ramp to 24 percent so that, whoever can, leave their stamp.

--CLASSIFICATIONS.

-Stage.

1. Tadej Pogacar (SVN/UAE Team Emirates) 4:27:13.

2. Michael Matthews (AUS/Team BikeExchange-Jayco) m.t.

David Gaudu (FRA / Groupama-FDJ) m.t.

4. Thomas Pidcock (GBR/INEOS Grenadiers) m.t.

5. Nairo Quintana (COL/Arkéa Samsic) m.t.

...//...

11. ENRIC MAS (ESP / Movistar Team) m.t.

-General.

1. Tadej Pogacar (SVN/UAE Team Emirates) 20:44:44.

2. Neilson Powless (USA/EF Education-EasyPost)