Logric completes Grand Tour collection with Tour de France Maillot Jaune

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Logric completes Grand Tour collection with Tour de France Maillot Jaune

Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma), who enjoyed success at last year's Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, on Sunday knocked Adam Yates (Mitchelton Scott) off the lead in the 2020 Tour de France and leader jersey collection is now complete.

Yates struggled on the road to Roudenville on Saturday, eventually holding a three-second lead overall, but was caught in a fierce charge by Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) on the Col de Marie Blanc in the Pyrenees on Sunday.

Roglic kept control of his two most dangerous rivals, Pogachar and defending champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), despite Bernal's first Tour mountain attack on the summit.

He then finished second in a five-man sprint competition in Laruns, despite the disappointment of missing out on his second win. He also brought a 6-second time bonus to Bernal, giving him a 21-second advantage.

Since Wednesday's win in Orsier-Mellet, Roglic has looked suspiciously as if he still did not want to claim the yellow, and one journalist asked him, but the Slovenian denied it.

"I'm definitely happy. Every kid wants to get a yellow card at least once. The team put in a strong performance."

"I won it last year with Mike [Tunisen], and this is proof that we are doing a good job. I think it's a great accomplishment for every person on the team."

Jumbo Visma was the strongest team in the mountains throughout the first nine days of the Tour de France, laying most of the groundwork for Roglic to win yellow. riders like two-time Tour runner-up Tom Dumoulin have sacrificed personal ambition. Wout Van Aert's two stage victories seemed to have no effect on the Belgian's dedication to the climb to Roglic.

Sepp Kuss was out of form on Saturday, but on Sunday he was active on the main mountain climb with the Jumbo Visma climber consortium before being temporarily replaced by George Bennett and Tom Dumoulin.

But it was Pogachar's attack that ultimately put Yates in pole position.

When asked if the same Slovenian was his main rival, Roglic said of Pogačar, "He is definitely strong. But there are nine days of racing so far and a lot can happen before Paris. For now we can enjoy a well-deserved rest day."

One thing that seems to have already happened is that Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) is stepping up again, as he did in the 2019 Tour de France, and the Colombian is in much better shape with Marie Blank than he was with Peyresourde is in much better shape.

Asked if he thought he should have taken more advantage of Bernal's relative weakness on Saturday, Roglic was particularly vague about the day's strategy.

"I have no regrets. I'm really happy to be in the position I'm in, and a lot can still happen between now and Paris," said Roglic.

Last year, Roglic had an impressive showing in the mid-race time trial, held the day after a rest day, to advance to the Roja Vuelta in Pau, where Sunday's stage will start. It remains to be seen whether he will follow the same strategy as last year's Vuelta and try to hold onto the Tour lead for two weeks, or "farm out" to a rider who is not a long-term overall threat.

For the first nine days of the Tour, Roglic is the strongest rider, and Roglic's GC position is much lower than in last year's Vuelta. Therefore, giving up the jersey to a non-rival could be an option to conserve energy before the long mountain series of the Tour's final race, which begins next Friday.

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