Tadej Pogacar dealt Jonas Vingegaard a blow for the first time in this Tour de France during Wednesday’s fifth stage. The Dane was more than a minute slower than his great rival in a time trial around Caen.
The two big favorites for the overall victory are both surprised after the biggest test of the first Tour week. Pogacar gained no less than a minute and five seconds on Vingegaard in the flat 33-kilometer time trial, an unexpectedly large gap.
Last month, Pogacar was almost half a minute slower than Vingegaard in the chronorace of the Critérium du Dauphiné. Four weeks later, the roles are completely reversed. Pogacar finished second in the fifth Tour stage, sixteen seconds behind winner Remco Evenepoel. Vingegaard finished only thirteenth.
Vingegaard tells the NOS afterwards that he “just didn’t have good legs”. “That surprised me a bit. I was fighting against my bike and my legs today. The result matches my feeling.”
Pogacar, on the other hand, has a big smile on his face. “I exceed my expectations,” says the title defender to Sporza. “I am surprised that Jonas lost so much time. I thought he would end up closer to me, or maybe even be better than me.”
Vingegaard still believes in Visma’s plan
Pogacar takes over the yellow leader’s jersey from Mathieu van der Poel thanks to his good time trial. In the standings, he is one minute and thirteen seconds ahead of number four Vingegaard. “It feels good to have the yellow,” says Pogacar. “But otherwise that is not so important now. It is about having the yellow in Paris.”
Vingegaard tries to keep his spirits up. There are still sixteen stages and many mountain stages to go. “Fortunately, the Tour is still long. I still believe in myself and in our plan. I still believe that we can win the Tour.”
Pogacar knows that Vingegaard is not yet defeated. “Today was a very good day for me. I am very happy with my time trial. It is nice to be only sixteen seconds behind Remco, currently the best time trialist in the world. But Jonas will certainly try to gain time during this Tour.”