La Loge des Gardes, the Lodge of the Guardians. Remember this name. You will hear it a lot between now and July. It is the place where an unusual event occurred during the last Tour. This world-class port will be the epicenter around which all theories will be elaborated and various tactics will be plotted in the future. That's where you got to in the first high end of the Paris-Nice turned into a test bench for the summer. It was the stage in which old pending accounts began to be settled. And for the first time, something that did not happen in the entire 2022 Tour, Pogacar opened a gap, managed to separate his bike from Vingegaard's.
And it was not a couple of meters, nor did the distance stay in a dozen seconds. They fell for more than 40 seconds, an unexpected time that gives and will give rise to a thousand and one speculations. The wounded Slovenian healed the sore in his pride, grown by the triumph, already dressed in yellow. The triumphant, granitic Dane has doubts, he cracks.
It had to be the scene of the first face-to-face duel between the two great favorites for the podium on the Champs-Élysées. And it was. Both Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, the last two winners, had the day marked in red. The cross messages of February are over. You to Andalusia, I to Galicia. They knew it since the Slovenian from the UAE changed his calendar to coincide with his rival. They were no longer going to be able to hide behind a team like in the time trial on Tuesday. It was time to respond in person. No emissaries. They were ahead. Wheel with wheel.
And the first assault was for Pogacar, who caused Vingegaard's unprecedented crisis with an attack two and a half from the finish line. He sent it to the canvas. He sent him to the thinking corner. Yes, in March.
At La Loge des Gardes, barely 1,000 meters above sea level, near Roanne, not far from Puy de Dome, where they will meet in the Tour, Pogacar achieved what he could not eight months ago on the Superplanche, in Alpe d'Azur. 'Huez, in the Mur de Pegueres, in Peraygudes or in the Col de Salanches: release Vingegaard. Throughout the 2022 Tour de France, Pogacar launched countless attacks, never detaching himself from his shadow, who finished him off in the Granon and Hautacam.
And that the first attack was from the Dane, who surprised everyone when he demarcated with more than four kilometers to go from the top. The two of them were left alone. Always them. Nobody else. “It has been a very hard attack. I have had to rest”, explained Pogacar, who did not counterattack. What's more, they let themselves be caught. And they allowed Gaudu (Groupama) to go ahead.
At 2.5 came the foreseeable acceleration of Pogacar that preceded the unforeseen. The Slovenian left. Vingegaard was slow to react but moved closer. He had it on hand. He almost caught her wheel. But then Pogacar tortured him, pressed again and left for good. "I had to do an all-in to catch Gaudu and he exploded a bit", summed up the UAE boss, who in the final sprint did not give the Frenchman anything, but did what he likes best: sprint, win , celebrate and wear yellow. While the Dane was passed by Mader, Paret-Peintre and Vauquelin. At La Loge des Gardes. Do not forget. He has set a precedent.
