Matej Mohoric / Image: REUTERS
Matej Mohoric again prevailed as an outlier on the third from last stage of the 108th Tour de France and celebrated his second victory of the day. The Slovenian champion prevailed on Friday on the 207 kilometers from Mourenx to Libourne 58 seconds ahead of the Frenchman Christophe Laporte and the Dane Casper Pedersen. Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian leader in the overall standings, crossed the finish line in the field with his greatest competitors.
Mohoric had already won the seventh stage solo. This time the Slovenian attacked from a 20-man breakaway group 23 km from the finish. Because his competitors were not in agreement, the professional of the Bahrain team could not be caught. Bahrain last hit the headlines through a doping raid in the team hotel on Thursday night.
The field with the sprint specialists, Pogacar, the other favorites for a top placement and Patrick Konrad, among others, crossed the finish line almost 21 minutes behind.
The next chance for Pogacar is waiting
Before the triumphant drive up the Champs-Élysées is on the program on Sunday, a 31 km time trial from Libourne to Saint-Émilion awaits on Saturday. Pogacar starts the time trial with a lead of almost six minutes. If nothing happens to the strong Slovenian on the weekend of the final, he will also win the white jersey of the best young professional and the dotted jersey of the best climber, as in 2020 in addition to the yellow jersey for the winner. The fight against the clock is all about who can accompany Pogacar on Sunday in the center of Paris on the podium.
On the final stretch to Paris it should again be largely about the record hunt of veteran Mark Cavendish. If the Briton wins the legendary Champs-Élysées, he not only owns the green jersey of the best sprinter, but also the stage record of the tour alone, with 35 daily victories, which Belgium legend Eddy Merckx held with 34 victories for several decades.
