LES ANGLES, France, July 6 (Reuters) - Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar underlined UAE Team Emirates-XRG's early dominance at the 113th edition of the Tour de France, claiming victory in Monday's third stage just 24 hours after Isaac del Toro's victory in Barcelona.
On Sunday, the duo crossed the finish line with big smiles when Pogacar gave his teammate the chance to take his first win on the Tour despite clearly being in a position to triumph himself. Monday, however, was all about the Slovenian.
The four-time champion, usually the commanding leader of the peloton, chose to take the victory himself, launching his attack in the final 200 metres of the stage from Del Toro's wheel.
"We pay back the method from yesterday," Del Toro said on Monday. "We try to get the momentum always working but it's not easy.
"I'm super happy to have this dynamic with him and I'm super proud to be able to give a hand to him."
The stage win was not part of the team's original strategy but Pogacar's teammates began increasing the pace to catch the breakaway.
"We are here to race for the victory, and we saw in the middle of the stage that we had the possibility to go for the stage and take care of exactly what happened," Pogacar told a press conference.
Adam Yates, who claimed third in the 2023 Tour de France, echoed Pogacar's sentiments.
"It's always better to be under control than out of control, so we took it up," Yates said.
"It was not really a plan to go for the stage. All the guys did an amazing job to bring the break back. I think if the break was a different composition, we would have been happy to let it go. When there are strong guys there, it's always a danger."
Though the 2026 Tour is still in its infancy, the scenario feels reminiscent of recent editions, with Pogacar and his teammates firmly in charge.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron in Les Angles; editing by Clare Fallon)
