STA, 30 June 2021 - Slovenian cycling star Tadej Pogačar won stage five of the Tour de France race on Wednesday. Last year's winner of the Tour was 19 seconds faster than Stefan Küng from Switzerland in the 27.2-kilometre individual time trial between Changé and Laval Espace Mayenne. Slovenia's other star, Primož Roglič, was 44 seconds behind, finishing seventh.
Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) started stage five 39 seconds behind Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) from the Netherlands and finished it with the 26th victory of his career and his fourth time trial victory.
He was eight seconds too slow for the yellow jersey, which remained in the hands of der Poel.
Küng was surprisingly followed by Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) in third place.
"That has been a truly good day for me. I did not make any mistakes and the weather was perfect for me too," said the 22-year-old Pogačar told the organisers after the race, adding that he was looking forward to the rest of the Tour.
Roglič, who is recovering from falls in the first three stages, showed he is in great shape today and finished seventh. "Quite simply, I'm grateful that I'm even here. Then you just try to give your best. As long as we are here, there is hope. Better times can always come," the 31-year-old Roglič told public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.
Cyclists will next take on a 160.6-kilometre plain route from Tours to Chateauroux on Thursday.
