Tadej Pogačar's (opens in new tab) impressive debut at the Tour de France (opens in new tab) continued on Sunday, as the young Slovenian won a small group sprint in Larence ahead of the top two pre-race favorites, Egan Bernal ( Ineos Grenadiers) and new leader Primoš Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) to take a well-deserved stage win.

The leader of UAE Team Emirates (open in new tab) was the only GC contender to successfully attack in earnest on the final climb, the Peyresourde Pass, on Saturday, and again on Sunday on the final climb, the Marie Blanquet Pass.

Bernal Roglic and Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren) chased him down, but the 21-year-old had no problem staying with them on the descent to Larence, and after catching long-term breakaway leader Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb), he sprinted from the breakaway to win the stage and also earned a 10-second time bonus.

At 21 years old, Pogachar became the youngest rider to win a stage in the 21st century Tour de France. But his ambitions in this race do not stop there; he also has his sights set on the overall victory.

"Of course I'm thinking about GC, that's why I'm here," the Slovenian said after the stage, as if asking a first-time Tour de France rider an unnecessary question, and moved up two places to seventh overall, 44 seconds behind the new leader, Roglic.

"I lost a little time" - when a rider crashed in front of him on stage 6 in Echelon - "but it doesn't mean anything, the GC race has just started and there will be a bigger gap. Of course I'm going for the stage win."

Asked if he was the best climber among this year's GC contenders, Pogachar replied, "I don't know."

"Yesterday [Saturday] was one story. I gave it everything I had in the sprint."

Pogachar was also the first to finish in the top 10 in the sprint.

Pogachar, riding his second Grand Tour in his short career, perhaps had his most inexperienced moment on Sunday when he made a "little mistake," by his own admission, on the summit of Marie Blanquet, nearly crashing.

"I thought I was going to drop everyone there and pass them, but actually there was Logrich on my left and I was a little careless. I turned around and Logrich passed me and hit my wheels," he explained.

"After that it went well and I made up a little time, but not much.

Asked about Bernal, his big rival and 2019 Tour de France winner, Pogachar admitted that the Colombian looked much better on Sunday than the day before, but added that everyone in the lead group, including Roglic, looked strong. He said that just by looking at their faces, he was convinced that it would not be a simple matter to drop them.

As for the Tour de France itself, Pogachar did not expect such a high level of racing and admitted that the stress at the Tour was "higher than the Vuelta."

"But," he insisted, "I'm happy at the moment.

Whether Pogachar can replicate his 2019 Vuelta a España result (three stage wins and third overall in his Grand Tour debut) is no longer hypothetical.

Rather, it is whether he can be a yellow contender when the race returns to the high mountains next Friday. And at this point, there is a good chance that he will be a real contender against both Bernal and Roglic.