VIDEO. Giro: Tadej Pogacar crushes the Tour of Italy after a great number and wins far ahead of all the other favorites

Pogacar est plus que jamais le patron de ce Giro 2024. ANSA – LUCA ZENNARO

Tadej Pogacar definitively stunned the Tour of Italy by winning the queen stage alone, far ahead of all the others, on Sunday May 19 in Livigno.

Attacking 14 kilometers from the finish, Tadej Pogacar recaptured the day's escapes one by one to win at the top with a lead of almost three minutes over the other favorites. This is already his fourth stage victory in this Giro.

He flies to the top of the general classification where he is now six and a half minutes ahead of his runner-up, the Briton Geraint Thomas, sixth in the stage just behind Daniel Martinez and Romain Bardet .

This is already the fourth stage victory in this Tour of Italy that he discovers this year with the ambition of becoming the first rider since Macro Pantani in 1998 to complete the Giro-Tour de France double.

Tadej Pogacar écrase le #Giro ! Le maillot rose gagne l'étape reine à Livigno et confirme qu'il est seul au monde sur ce Tour d'Italie 2024 #LesRP pic.twitter.com/6hbSDPmH54

— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) May 19, 2024

Swallowed one by one

Pogacar launched his attack after a final relay from his faithful lieutenant Rafal Majka. Like a pink Pacman, he swallowed all the survivors of the imposing "fuga" morning, passing them without a glance.

The last holdout, Nairo Quintana, ultimately second, was recaptured and immediately dropped two kilometers from the goal, in the snowfields of the Lombard ski resort.

Behind, the other riders competing for the general classification were quickly resigned in this stage with a terrifying profile, 222 km long with 5,400 meters of elevation gain. Only Daniel Martinez accelerated, after a little hesitation, to try to follow the Slovenian rocket. But he quickly returned to the ranks.