Murad Al Masry (Abu Dhabi)
The Emirates Cycling Team continued its steady steps towards winning the title of the 111th edition of the Tour de France, after its leader Tadej Pogacar won the 15th stage, which was held today, to complete the victory in three stages so far, including the last two stages in a row, and to strengthen his position with his team at the top of the double classification for the teams and individuals with 6 stages remaining in the competition.
Slovenian Pogacar’s victory came after he proved that he is a specialist when it comes to mountain trails, and he succeeded in completing this stage, which extended for 197.7 km, in a time of 5 hours 13.55, with a gap of 1 minute and 8 seconds over the second-placed Danish Jonas Vingaard of the Dutch team Visma.
It was a double blow from Pogacar to Vinnegaard, as the yellow jersey holder extended his lead over his Danish pursuer to 3 minutes and 9 seconds, with the UAE Team Emirates leader’s total time of 61.56.24 hours.
Pogacar also pulled away from Belgian Remco Evenepoel of the Soudal Quick Step team, who is in third place and is considered one of his main pursuers for the title, by a gap of now 5 minutes and 19 seconds.
In addition to Pogacar retaining the “yellow jersey” for the overall leader, he strengthened his position as the best mountain biker, raising his score to 77 points, and also retaining the red-polka-dot jersey.
The UAE Cycling Team is at the top of the team rankings with merit and distinction, in addition to this individual excellence, in a continuous leadership for the 12th consecutive stage, with a total time for its team riders of 186.12 hours.
Participants will have a 24-hour break today, before entering the third and final week, with the finale taking place in the French city of Nice on July 21.
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