Pogačar's daring knows no bounds as he crushes Tour rivals

For the best part of six days, it looked like this year's Tour de France was set to be one of the all-time great battles.

On day six, however, Tadej Pogačar decided otherwise.

On Thursday's 186-kilometre mountainous sixth stage from Pau to the tiny ski resort of Gavarnie-Gèdre, the defending champion crushed his rivals with a typically daring attack on the historic Col du Tourmalet.

With just over 5km to go on the historic climb that has crowned so many Tour de France winners over the years, Pogačar launched a blistering attack, before showing all of his daring and skill by going solo with 43km still to race.

Nobody can match the Slovenian's accelerations when he is in this mood.

Only Jonas Vingegaard, who started the day with exactly the same overall time as Pogačar, seemed to have any hope.

But along with the rest of the peloton, that hope disappeared quickly as Pogačar extended his lead out to 2 minutes and 38 seconds.

It may as well be an age, despite Vingegaard's claims that he still had a chance of winning the race.

"I still believe in myself," the two-time winner told the TV coverage at the finish.

"My legs will get better throughout the race; the fight is not over."

Of course, he is right. Cycling is a deeply cruel sport, where one mistake can cost far more than just overall race time.

With a frankly horrendous final week in the Alps to come, time gaps could explode any which way, and to decide unequivocally that the race is over with 15 more stages to go is foolish.

But my goodness, it's going to take something dramatic from the cycling gods to deny Pogačar a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title when the race concludes in Paris later this month.

Such is the standing that Pogačar has earned himself within the pantheon of the sport, he could probably have a quiet word with the gods himself if he feels they are working against him.

Even the way Pogačar greeted his rival at the finish, a tap of the hand and a pat of the back as the exhausted Dane rolled past him, felt somewhat final.

Vingegaard seemingly dared not look Pogačar in the face, bowing away in a way that was almost respectful.

Cycling is, in so many ways, a deeply anachronistic sport.

Road racing is filled with valiant notions of honour, respect and service.

And Pogačar honoured those ideals with his furious attack, the rainbow bands of the world champion on his back as he relentlessly delivered hammer blow after hammer blow to the rest of the peloton with each of his high-cadence pedal strokes.

So fast does Pogačar pedal, and so quickly does his lead appear, that you need to check the playback on your chosen device to see whether you're watching at one-and-a-half speed.

No world champion had ever summitted the Col du Tourmalet, the highest point on this year's race, in the rainbow bands with as such devastating authority that the famous jersey commands.

It seems unearthly, perhaps even unnatural, that he is able to do this time and time again.

That, of course, is the caveat that any of these hagiographic stories need to have permanently attached to them when talking about Pogačar and his astonishing feats.

Cycling's nefarious past has ensured that whenever supporters are treated to scenes that look too good to be true, they are often proven heartbreakingly right.

But in the spirit of a default, innocent until proven otherwise, there is little else for fans of the sport than to sit back and marvel, as one would at a vastly superior force of nature.

Even French President Emmanuel Macron, present at the finish line of today's stage, could not hide his admiration, staring up at him as if honouring some long-limbed alien, which we as the mortals of this world could only admire, cladding him in a sacral yellow jersey to both humanise and elevate him above us all.

Not since Eddy Merckx has the sport had someone so dominant over such vastly different terrains.

Not since Lance Armstrong has the Tour had someone so ruthless in the mountains, which is of course the problem.

"I would say this one goes in the top five of my Tour de France victories," Pogačar said, thinking back to the 22 that came before it.

"A really incredible victory, one of the sweetest for sure.

"Yesterday on the bus, when we were coming from the [fifth] stage, it was very big hype, already talking about today's stage.

"I woke up at seven in the morning, my mind was going crazy, I was really excited for today.

"All the guys were really hyped, I knew it would be a good day, we just committed with nothing to lose. If we explode, we explode, but we succeeded.

"I'm super proud of everyone, it was crazy teamwork."

Pogačar's success is twinned with the heartbreak for the yellow jersey wearer on the stage, Torstein Træen.

The Norwegian may have, with a lead of almost 8 minutes over Pogačar, expected to stay in yellow today, and through to the first rest day on Monday.

Instead, the 30-year-old cancer survivor crashed badly coming down off the Tourmalet, losing over half an hour.

"It's a shit downhill, really dangerous if you miss a corner," Pogačar said.

"I would still prefer if he kept the jersey and I hope he's OK."

Træen was able to finish the stage but, like everyone, seemed to be in shock at the stunning events far ahead of him up the road.

After the opening salvos of this race, Pogačar and Vingegaard were locked together.

Among the two greatest rivals in the sport's history, the pair have exchanged yellow jerseys for the past five years.

Both had claimed a stage win at this race, exchanging blows in Barcelona and continuing the fight into the Pyrenees.

But Thursday's sixth stage all but ended the discussion.

Pogačar's dominance does present cycling with a problem.

What jeopardy is there in this race now? What interest is there in watching a procession to Paris, the peloton under the thrall of the Pied Pogačar as he leads them on their merry dance through la République?

Perhaps the interest should be in watching a master at work, a man who is etching his legend ever deeper into the annals of the sport with every one of those quick-fire pedal strokes.

Perhaps it's to acknowledge that the era the sport is in now may yet be looked back on with glasses not tinted with rose, but with gold.

Pogačar is riding ever more into the territory where even the greatest legends of the sport have not left their marks.

Enjoy it while it lasts, because one day he'll be gone and fans will hunger for his panache.

With those aforementioned caveats still applying, of course.

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