The Tour rule that prevented Vingegaard from losing time to Pogacar in the fifth stage

The fifth stage of France’s TourThe planned script followed, but, with just over five kilometers to go, everything changed. The accident cut off the peloton, leaving the sprinters who would play the stage ahead and the men fighting for the general standings behind.

Since they are not within the last five kilometers, within the safety zone, any differences that occur at the finish line would be taken into account in the general classification. Olav Kooij ended up taking the stage to the joy of the Decathlon of Paul Seixas. The Dutchman clearly prevailed over the rest of the sprinters. Behind them, the favorites for the final victory in Paris were fighting their particular battle to avoid losing time. Tadej Pogacar crossed the finish line in 21st place, 14 seconds behind the winner. He was the first of a large group that included other big names in the race, such as Remco Evenepoel, Paul Seixas, Tom Pidcock and Richard Carapaz.

His great rival for the yellow jersey, Jonas Vingegaarddid not enter the wheel of the Slovenian. The Dane’s bicycle was damaged in the pileup and he was forced to exchange it for that of his teammate Victor Campenaerts. In the change he lost time that prevented him from entering the Pogacar group and he finished in 53rd position, arriving seconds after his rival. However, in the stage classification, he was awarded the same time as Pogacar, giving up the same 14 seconds to Kooij. Despite the obvious difference in time between Pogacar and Vingegaard when crossing the finish line, this decision by the judges is explained by article 14 of the race regulationsby virtue of which, “the stages that may end in a massive sprint, the cut will be considered effective when the difference between two runners is equal to or greater than three seconds.”

In the images it can be seen that at no time does this three-second cut referred to in the regulations occur. Hugo PageCofidis runner, is responsible for linking the group of Pogacar with that of Vingegaardthus saving the Dane from a loss of time before this Thursday’s momentous stage ending in Gavarnie.