Pogacar Reclaims Yellow Jersey with Stage 7 Victory at Tour de France

Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates, the defending champion, has reclaimed the yellow jersey after a hard-fought victory in Stage 7 of the Tour de France. The Slovenian rider outmaneuvered Jonas Vingegaard of Visma–Lease a Bike to secure the stage win. This marks Pogacar's second stage win of this year's Tour.

The stage covered a 197-kilometer route from Saint-Malo to Mur-de-Bretagne. Pogacar sprinted ahead of Vingegaard at the summit finish, with Oscar Onley of Britain taking third place.

Mathieu van der Poel began the day with a narrow lead over Pogacar but finished in 22nd place, dropping to fifth overall. Remco Evenepoel of Belgium now sits in second place, 54 seconds behind Pogacar. Van der Poel, who previously won a stage and wore the yellow jersey at Mur-de-Bretagne in 2021, was unable to repeat his success this time, falling behind on the final climb.

Early in the stage, a five-man breakaway, including Geraint Thomas, who is riding his final Tour, formed. As the peloton increased the pace, the breakaway began to break apart, leaving Ewen Costiou alone in the lead. Costiou was eventually caught by the main group as they reached the Mur-de-Bretagne for the first time.

With six kilometers remaining, a crash occurred in the peloton, involving several riders, including Pogacar's teammate Joao Almeida and stage six winner Ben Healy. The final circuit, which included two ascents of the Mur-de-Bretagne, set the stage for the decisive action. Pogacar attempted to break away in the final kilometers, followed by Evenepoel and Vingegaard.

In the final kilometer, eight riders were left vying for the stage win, but Van der Poel was not among them. Pogacar, after being led out by teammate Jhonatan Narvaez, surged ahead, with Vingegaard the only rider able to stay with him. Pogacar celebrated his victory as he crossed the finish line.

Pogacar expressed his happiness with the win, acknowledging the near-perfect execution of the team's strategy. He also mentioned his concern for his teammate Joao Almeida, who was involved in the crash. Stage eight will be a mostly flat 171.4-km ride from Saint-Meen-le-Grand to Laval.