Tadej Pogacar hits ‘12 out of 10’ to edge Jonas Vingegaard with 'terrible twosome on another planet' at Tour de France

Tadej Pogacar won Stage 4 at the Tour de France to rack up his 100th pro victory - but the form of Jonas Vingegaard is also raising eyebrows. Vingegaard clung onto the world champion superbly on Tuesday and with a 33km individual time trial next, he will also have his eyes on yellow. "The terrible twosome are at it again - and they're on another planet", said TNT Sports commentator Rob Hatch.

Tadej Pogacar said he pushed to a "12 out of 10" in his first major slugfest with Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France.

The Slovenian (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) lit up the final climb, a sharp 800m drag up the Cat. 3 Rampe Saint-Hilarie at 10.6%.

Only Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) could live with him as TNT Sports commentator Rob Hatch declared the "terrible twosome" were "on another planet."

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Pogacar briefly gapped his great rival before the pace eased at the summit, allowing a select group - including Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the yellow jersey - to regroup.

But Pogacar had the final word in Rouen. He launched out of Van der Poel’s wheel to secure his 100th professional win.

Asked by TNT Sports’ Matt Stephens how hard he went, Pogacar replied: "12 out of 10! It was all out."

In his earlier post-race interview, the three-time champion said: "I hope everyone was on the limit. I tried an attack on the last climb. Jonas followed me then everything came back together.

"Joao [Almeida] then did an amazing job to lead me out at the end. I’m super happy and proud of the team today. I'm just without words, it was such a nice victory."

Pogacar asked how hard he was going during Tour de France climb - his answer broke the scale

Video credit: TNT Sports

Pogacar moved level with Van der Poel in the general classification, narrowly missing out on yellow on countback. That means another outing in the world champion rainbow jersey - and potentially his last at the Tour with a 33km individual time trial likely to reshape the leaderboard on Stage 5.

"We will see tomorrow [with the time trial], tomorrow is the real test," added Pogacar. "To win a stage in this jersey is enough. Of course we will aim for the yellow, but we will see."

Pogacar's milestone win reignited the GOAT - greatest of all time - debate.

"For me, he's the greatest for sure," said TNT Sports guest pundit Owain Doull on The Breakaway. "When you look at what he's doing across different terrains all year round, he's just an absolute killer."

Vingegaard 'has definitely come up a level'

Despite the deserved adulation for Pogacar after he joined the century club, Vingegaard's resurgence also grabbed the spotlight.

The Dane arrived at the Tour as second favourite behind Pogacar after being humbled at the Criterium du Dauphine last month, while an "unnecessary" interview from his wife has disrupted his opening week.

But he almost matched Pogacar on terrain far more suited to his rival on Tuesday - and with the big mountains to come, he will also be pleased heading into Stage 5's individual time trial.

"The most impressive thing to me is Jonas, without a doubt," said TNT Sports expert Adam Blythe.

"We all know Jonas is better in the longer mountains. To ride how he is right now and blowing up within a second [of Pogacar] is impressive. That's bread and butter for Tadej. For Jonas, that's the hardest part of this race."

Vingegaard has 'definitely come up a level' - Doull

Video credit: TNT Sports

Vingegaard sits just eight seconds off the yellow jersey - and, more importantly, Pogacar - after grabbing four bonus seconds with his late sprint in Rouen.

"He's definitely come up a level since the Dauphine," said Doull.

"These have been four hectic stages and to have them still within eight seconds is really good. I think Visma will be really happy with that scenario and based off the Dauphine, you could see Jonas in yellow tomorrow."

Despite trailing Pogacar by nearly a minute overall at the Dauphine, Vingegaard put 24 seconds into him in the race's time trial. That was over just 17.4km, with Wednesday's outing at the Tour coming in at 33km.

"The last couple of time trials when Jonas won the Tour, he smashed Tadej," added Blythe.

Pogacar and Vingegaard have won the last five Tour de France titles between them, with the former leading the head-to-head 3-2.

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