Tadej Pogacar compared to Secret Service agent after remarkable Tour de France gesture gifts Isaac del Toro victory

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Tadej Pogacar was compared to a Secret Service agent after sacrificing a stage win - and a shot at the yellow jersey - to shepherd UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Isaac del Toro to victory on Stage 2 of the Tour de France on Sunday.

Highlights: Vingegaard strikes first as Pogacar and UAE settle for third in TTT

Video credit: TNT Sports

The four-time champion looked set to storm to a 22nd stage win at the Tour during a brutal finale in Barcelona. Instead, he made a conscious decision to play bodyguard, sitting just behind Del Toro and ensuring the Mexican could celebrate a dream victory on his Tour debut.

Speaking on TNT Sports' The Breakaway, presenter Orla Chennaoui could not resist the comparison. "Tadej's body language was like a Secret Service agent moving through, having the earpiece in, his arm outstretched, making sure his lad was protected."

Del Toro had launched his move after chasing down a long-range attack from Mattias Skjelmose in the final kilometre before kicking clear himself.

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With Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in pursuit, Pogacar swung away from his team-mate across the road, with his great rival taking the bait and dropping onto his back wheel.

But rather than sprinting past his team-mate, Pogacar repeatedly glanced over his shoulder to monitor the weary chasers before escorting Del Toro to the line, the pair crossing almost side by side as UAE celebrated a memorable one-two.

The result also meant Pogacar passed up the chance to take the yellow jersey from Vingegaard, who held onto the race lead by six seconds after finishing fourth.

"The generosity of a man who is up against his biggest rival, but happy to concede a few seconds," said TNT Sports cycling expert Matt Stephens.

"Robbie [McEwen] was saying he could have taken five or six seconds. I think he could have. I think Del Toro knows that.

"But that speaks to the generosity and the class of the human being that Tadej Pogacar is, to give this man an opportunity to win like this."

Fellow pundit Adam Blythe was equally impressed by Pogacar's awareness in the closing metres.

"It was incredible. He is bodyguarding him to the finish," he said. "He's looking round, making sure no one's coming. In the meantime, Jonas is on his hands and knees. Remco is coming back. Del Toro almost crashes. But Tadej knows exactly what he's doing, he knows he's going to give him the stage."

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Stephens believes the decision could also pay dividends later in the race.

"Now what we're going to see is payback later on in this race," he said. "We know that Del Toro is an absolute weapon on his bike. To give him that win so early on, this man is going to go so deep and set about the mountains in the next few weeks.

"We've not really seen that before from Tadej, but the way he orchestrated that - while everybody else was on their knees - it shows how good Del Toro is going but also how good Tadej is. It was like he was riding to the shops to buy a pint of milk. It looked so easy for him in the final straight."

He added: "As well as generous, that's a real flex. 'I don't need it.' That's a flex against Jonas, who has just won back-to-back Grand Tours."

One man unlikely to mind Pogacar's generosity is Mark Cavendish. By allowing Del Toro to take the win, Pogacar passed up what would have been the 22nd Tour de France stage victory of his career - a small reprieve for Cavendish's all-time record of 35.

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