Tour de France: I knew Carapaz was bluffing, says Pogacar

Team UAE Emirates Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia wearing the overall leaders yellow jersey rides ahead of Team Jumbo Vismas Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark wearing the best youngs white jersey and Team Ineos Grenadiers Richard Carapaz of Ecuador during the 17th stage of the 108th edition of the Tour de France cycling race 178 km between Muret and SaintLarySoulan on July 14 2021 Photo by Thomas SAMSON AFP Photo by THOMAS SAMSONAFP via Getty Images
Tadej Pogačar leading Jonas Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz on the Col du Portet on stage 17 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) said he was aware that Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) was bluffing on the Col de Portet on stage 17 of the Tour de France, as the pair went clear with Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). 

The trio separated themselves from the rest of the GC contenders 7.5km from the summit of the mammoth final climb in the Pyrenees, and things soon became tactical. 

Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.