Taking back-to-back stage victories for the first time at this year’s Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG soared to the win in the stage 13 individual time trial.

In doing so, Pogačar extended his lead in the Yellow Jersey to over four minutes ahead of the second-placed Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Pogačar chose a different approach to the majority of his general classification rivals on stage 13, opting to race a road bike rather than a dedicated time trial option. Aboard his Colnago Y1Rs, designed as the Italian manufacturer’s most aerodynamic road bike in history, the Slovenian made clear that his decision was the right one, with another dominant display on Friday afternoon.

With another victory at the Tour under his belt, Pogačar becomes the youngest rider in history to reach 21 Tour de France stage wins. The time trial victory also marked Pogačar’s 30th stage win in a Grand Tour, taking UAE Team Emirates-XRG to four stage wins in this Tour.

The race leader’s victory looked likely from the very first intermediate time check, with Pogačar going quicker than any other rider, despite the flat section favouring those riders on time trial bikes, on paper. From there on out, Pogačar was a rider in full flight, taking to the climb of Peyragudes with a spring in his step.

With Vingegaard producing a fantastic display in his own right and catching his two-minute man, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), Pogačar had to go above and beyond to deliver another stage win.

The Slovenian was the fastest rider on the climb itself, going uphill at an average speed of over 23kph. That gained him an advantage of 28 seconds over Vingegaard through the last 7km, with the eventual time gap between the two best riders on the day stretching to 36 seconds.

Meanwhile, Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG colleague Adam Yates delivered a fine display of his own to take eighth place on the day. The British climber is only improving as the race draws on, and his talents in the mountains will prove pivotal as Pogačar goes in search of a fourth Tour de France title.