Imperious Pogacar storms to incredible victory on epic Stage 15

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) could lose one minute on every remaining day of this Giro d’Italia and still stand on the top step in the pink jersey in Rome next Sunday.

The Slovenian sensation moved a staggering 6:41 clear of Welshman Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) after his latest display of panache-fuelled brilliance – winning Stage 15 in the Alps after outclassing all his rivals on a day that featured more climbing than any professional cycling race in the last decade.

On the queen stage of the 107th edition of the Giro, Pogacar struck out from the group of favourites on the penultimate climb of the Passo di Foscagno with 15km remaining. The 25-year-old left the remnants of the day’s breakaway for dead before passing Germany’s Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) ahead of the summit and then the last man standing, the Colombian veteran Nairo Quintana (Movistar), two kilometres from the finish.

Pogacar extended his lead on the double-digit ramps of the freshly laid road to the finish – coming home for a fourth win of his debut Giro with a gap of 30 seconds over Quintana. Steinhauser held on for third place before Frenchman Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) heralded the arrival of the other race favourites, now ensnared in a battle for second place.

Britain’s Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) finished in the wheel of Colombia’s Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) 2:50 down on Pogacar as the duo consolidated their positions on the lower steps of the podium. But with six stages still remaining, Thomas now trails Pogacar by 6:41 with Martinez a further 15 seconds back.

Pogacar’s current lead is the highest margin for the pink jersey after two weeks since 1954 as the swashbuckling Slovenian continues tearing up the record books in his quest for that elusive Giro-Tour double. And with such an advantage as he enters the final week, Pogacar can now afford to switch focus from pink to his preparations for an assault on the Tour de France’s yellow jersey later this summer.

“Today was a really good route with nice climbs,” an ecstatic Pogacar said. “My team-mates did a good job – we had this stage in mind since December. I’m super happy that we kept it under control. We had to be smart all day. It was a strong breakaway but I gave it my all for the last 10k and I’m super happy to win the queen stage in Livigno, one of my favourite places in Italy.”

Pogacar paid tribute to the man he denied a victory – but admitted that, as a teenager, the Colombian winner of the 2014 Giro often left him frustrated with a conservative style in direct contrast to that of his own offensive verve.

“I was watching the times when [Chris] Froome and Quintana were attacking each other – but always too close to the finish. I was really angry with Quintana for not trying to go from distance. But today he did a super good job, actually. He did an amazing ride. Also Steinhauser’s third place was an amazing ride today.”

With 5,500m of climbing – more than any Grand Tour stage in the last decade – and a whopping 157 KOM points up for grabs over the succession of five summits (the final two of which above 2,000m high), Sunday’s Stage 15, at 222km the longest in this year’s Giro, was always going to elicit a performance for the ages.

Pogacar, however, bided his time wisely and kept his powder dry as an early break of 10 riders went up the road – including an irate Lilian Calmejane (Intermarche-Wanty) who seemed to be taking on the world and his dog and even his own directeur sportif.

Having missed the move, German veteran Simon Geschke (Cofidis) led the chase behind in a bid to build on the blue jersey points tally that has seen him wear the climber’s garment in place of Pogacar for the past week.

While Geschke helped lead a large chase group of over 40 riders to the front of the race on the second climb, the Colle San Zeno, he was denied maximum points over the top by Italy’s Michele Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan).

Scaroni pushed on with team-mate David Ballerini and four others on the descent to open up a gap of almost two minutes ahead of the infamous Passo del Mortirolo. Scaroni once again took maximum points over the top, with the main field 4:30 in arrears and poised to pounce ahead of the final two climbs.

A long false flat up the valley was followed by uncategorised climbs to the two remaining intermediate sprints during a punishing phase that whittled down the lead group to just 10 riders ahead of the Passo di Foscagno with 25km remaining.

The group included stage winners Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step, as well as Nicola Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Davide Piganzoli (Polti Kometa), Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike), Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Luca Covili (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane), as well as Geschke, Quintana and Steinhauser.

And it was Steinhauser, the nephew of the 1998 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, who rode clear at the start of the climb to build up a decent gap. After a series of skirmishes, Quintana kicked clear in pursuit of the lone leader – but the focus soon shifted to the GC battle after Pogacar emerged from team-mate Rafal Majka’s wheel to put in his decisive attack.

Martinez was the only rider who initially matched the pink jersey’s surge – but the Colombian was unable to sustain his power and soon dropped back to the Thomas group.

There was no question of whether the chasers could reduce their arrears, though, as Pogacar’s lead grew and grew. The pink jersey sailed past Steinhauser ahead of the summit inside the final 10km but still had 40 seconds to close on Quintana.

The Colombian put in a gutsy effort but his legs these days turn the pedals in a different time zone to those of Pogacar, who left his rival for dead 2km from the lofty lid of the Mottolino climb above Livigno. The pink jersey made light work of the short gravel section before Diesel’ing his way up the freshly tarmacked final ramp to the line – writing the next chapter in the ongoing blockbuster that is his career story.

On top of strengthening his vice-like grip on the pink jersey, Pogacar extended his lead in the blue jersey standings to 94 points over Geschke, who had closed the gap to just 30pts on the road before his nemesis turned the tables on the final two climbs at altitude.

Two more summit finishes and an additional two more mountain stages remain – along with two days for the sprinters – but it seems like nothing can stand between Pogacar adding yet more successes to his swelling palmares en route to a maiden Giro triumph next Sunday in Rome.

Over 13 minutes separate the top 10 with Australia’s Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AR2R La Mondiale) and Italy’s Antion Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) retaining their positions in the top five. After Monday’s rest day, the Giro returns on Tuesday with the 206km Stage 16 that features the Umbrailpass ahead of a summit finish above Ortisei atop the Santa Cristina Van Gardena climb.