Tour de France 2023, Pogacar wins at Le Markstein, Vingegaard finishes third – Corriere.it

A sprint of anger that doesn’t give him back the lost Tour de France but certainly his smile. Even if the general classification was defined on the eve of the day in the Vosges, the Belfort – Le Markestein, the last and penultimate mountain stage of the Tour 110, was exciting and beautiful. It was won (second success after that of Cauterets, in the Pyrenees, eleventh overall) by the great loser of the race, Tadej Pogacar who beat Felix Gall and the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard in a sumptuous, furious and very narrow sprint.

The anger of Tadej, a formidable competitor, that of someone who lost the race in the terrible crisis of the Col de La Loze (which has a thousand justifications, including the long spring break for a broken wrist in Liège) but ready to ask for revenge in a match against the Dane currently fixed on two-two. The gaps: Vingegaard trimmed 7’29” to Pogacar, 10’56” to Adam Yates, 12’23” to Simon Yates who overtook the Spanish talent Carlos Rodriguez in the last kilometers, 5 ahead of his compatriot Pello Bilbao. The best blue Julius Ciccone with a gap close to two hours and twenty.

Among the emotions of the day, the impenetrable wall of fans on the Petit Ballon, exalted and moved, to greet the last climb in the Tour de France of the candid hero of French cycling in solitary escape, Thibaut Pinot, and that of Giulio Ciccone who, passing first on the Col de la Schlucht, won the polka dot jersey of best climber, bringing it back to Italy 31 years after Claudio Chiappucci nibbling point after point with courageous escapes.