Jonas Vingegaard doesn’t want to give up hope for the overall victory even after the failed plan in the queen stage of the Tour de France. The Danish leader of Visma-Lease a Bike lost more time to yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar, but still sees opportunities.
Vingegaard tried to drop Pogacar in the toughest stage of this Tour on the second of the three climbs in total. Despite the high pace of the Visma-Lease a Bike riders and an attack by Vingegaard himself, Pogacar held his ground on the Col de la Madeleine.
On the final climb, Vingegaard tried again, but Pogacar didn’t budge on the Col de la Loze either. In the final kilometer, Pogacar even distanced his rival, increasing the gap in the general classification to 4 minutes and 26 seconds. There are still three stages to go.
“It was a brutal day,” Vingegaard said afterwards. “I don’t know if I’ve ever ridden such a tough stage in the Tour de France. I felt good and the team felt good too. We had big plans, as you could see.”
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t gain any time on Tadej, but the team did a great job,” Vingegaard continued, remaining combative. “Tadej is not unbeatable. We were evenly matched. He took some seconds at the end, but the Tour de France is not over yet.”
Team leader: ‘Strongest man is in the yellow jersey’
According to first team leader Grischa Niermann, Visma-Lease a Bike did everything they could to drop Pogacar. “If you want to make up 4.5 minutes, you shouldn’t wait until the final climb,” he told the NOS. “We knew that the chance wasn’t very big (that Pogacar would drop, ed.), but we wanted to try.”
“The team rode a super race, but it’s a fair race. Tadej proved to be just as strong or stronger than Jonas again. Do I think Tadej was ever on the verge of cracking? If I’m honest: no. But we had a plan. We’re not going to say after two minutes: we’re stopping.”
Vingegaard only attacked on the final climb a few kilometers from the finish, while he had a large deficit in the classification to make up. Niermann had a clear explanation for this. “This climb was not suitable to attack, except in the last 5.5 kilometers.”
“But even in the last 5.5 kilometers you don’t close 4.5 minutes. That’s why he waited until the last 2 kilometers. We tried everything today, but the strongest rider is in the yellow jersey and we have to live with that now. We’ll try again tomorrow, but the chance is high that the result will be the same.”