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Grinding Up the Climb TdF26-112
This was the first time the Tour de France has ever scaled the Plateau de Solaison, I suspect it will be back. Once Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) hit the front with his teammate Isaac Del Toro, the only guy who could hold onto the two stars was Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The trio was distancing Evenepoel's teammate/team rival Florian Lipowitz and the rest of any of the general classification hopefuls. It seemed like Pogacar was being a super-domestique to Del Toro. Was he planning on gifting the Mexican Champion another stage, or was he riding to get him back into the Maillot Blanc of the best young rider in the Tour? Of course, they still had to catch Quinn Simmons who was a little over a minute up the climb. Unfortunately for the American Champion, there was just under seven kilometers to go and the chasers had pulled back a half a minute in only a single kilometer. I don't think this will be the stage victory that Simmons is still seeking.