HAUTACAM, France (AP) 鈥 Tadej Poga膷ar powered to an impressive stage win on the first day in the Pyrenees to take back the Tour de France yellow jersey on Thursday.
On a day when many wondered if he would suffer any ill effects from , Poga膷ar showed none and put himself in prime position for his fourth Tour victory with a break on the stage-ending climb to Hautacam.
He finished more than two minutes ahead of main rival Jonas Vingegaard.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know how the body reacts after the crash, but it was not too bad, it was not a bad crash,鈥 said Poga膷ar, . 鈥淚 feel my hip only when I do acrobatics, but here I鈥檓 just riding the bike.鈥
Hautacam is the resort overlooking Lourdes and Stage 12 must have felt like a pilgrimage for all the riders. , who wore the yellow jersey for two stages, finished well behind on a brutal day for the Irish rider.
In 2022, Vingegaard dominated Poga膷ar at Hautacam on his way to his first Tour victory. But the Danish rider is now 3 1/2 minutes behind his main rival in the general classification. Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel is third, 4:45 behind Poga膷ar.
Ottawa's Michael Woods finished 40th in Thursday's stage and moved up 20 spots to 69th overall, one hour 26 minutes 34 seconds behind Poga膷ar.
Guillaume Boivin of Longueuil, Que., Woods's Israel-Premier Tech teammate, was 126th on Thursday and 162nd overall, 2:36:59 off the pace.
As if in a rush to face the grueling challenges awaiting in the mountains, the riders sped through the first 50 kilometers in just under an hour with the peloton chasing a large 52-man breakaway group.
But their efforts on the narrow, twisting roads through spectacular landscapes and stone-house villages took their toll as exhausted riders dropped behind, one by one.
Birds of prey circled overhead as the riders suffered below.
Poga膷ar made his move with 11.8 kilometers remaining with help from UAE teammate Jhonatan Narv谩ez, who looked over his shoulder and allowed Poga膷ar to accelerate past. Vingegaard initially gave chase but couldn鈥檛 keep up with his rival, who overtook French rider Bruno Armirail for the lead with 11 kilometers to go for his 20th stage victory 鈥 third in this race.
鈥淚 was just looking forward for today. And then all the people were all the time coming to me and saying, 鈥極h yeah, this is the revenge time,鈥 and blah blah blah. And then when we approached the bottom of the climb, it was just a reverse story of a few years ago,鈥 said Poga膷ar, a 26-year-old Slovenian.
Poga膷ar finished 2:10 ahead of Vingegaard, with German rider Florian Lipowitz 2:23 off the pace in third.
Armirail, who had been leading, followed 10:46 after Poga膷ar. Healy finished 13:38 off the pace.
Tributes for young Italian rider who died
Riders took time before the stage , the 19-year-old who died after a crash while racing in Italy the day before.
Privitera crashed in the first stage of the Tour of Valle D鈥橝osta.
鈥淭he risk that we are taking sometimes is too far.鈥 Poga膷ar said before racing.
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