With two weeks behind him, Tadej Pogacar is in an excellent position in the Tour de France. The gap with rival Jonas Vingegaard is more than 4 minutes, but this last week will be incredibly tough. The yellow jersey wearer riding for UAE Team Emirates - XRG knows that Visma | Lease a Bike will put him under pressure on terrain where the Slovenian has already struggled on several occasions.

Tadej Pogacar regains the overall lead of the Tour de France after storming up the Hautacam climb to win stage 12 by over two minutes from Jonas Vingegaard.

Tim Wellens’ Tour de France had been excellent but understated. The Belgian national champion is arguably Pogacar’s most important domestique — both a rouleur who looks after the yellow jersey on the flat, and a strong enough climber to set a punishing initial pace at the base of climbs.

Lease a Bike seemed to have buried the hatchet - at least temporarily - after Team UAE Emirates-XRG made several cynical and critical remarks about the Dutch squad during the first week of the Tour de France.

I would like to dedicate this stage victory to Samuele Privitera and his entire family: I received the news as soon as I woke up, and in the last kilometer of the race, I thought of him and how

Both Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG are fielding their A teams for the Tour. Pogacar rampaged through the race last year but the playing field should be more level this time around (AP)

Reigning champion Tadej Pogacar overtook race leader Mathieu van der Poel just before the line to win stage four of the Tour de France on Tuesday, and is now level at the top of the general classification after earning his 100th career victory.

Asked if Jumbo-Visma had a similar strategy to “break” Pogačar again in 2023, Vingegaard said, “Yes, we have made a plan for that,” though he was coy about sharing any more with even his ...