Jonas Vingegaard turned the Tour de France on its head on Wednesday with a pointy assault on the brutal ultimate climb that gained him the race’s eleventh stage and snatched the chief’s yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar.
On the day’s earlier climbs of the Col du Télégraphe and the Col du Galibier, Pogacar and Vingegaard traded assaults, with neither managing to get away for lengthy. And on the backside of the ultimate climb of the ending Col du Granon, nearly all the important thing riders have been massed collectively. In a cagey race, some might need anticipated that there wouldn’t be main modifications to the general standings on the finish of the day.
However that principle didn’t reckon with the issue of the Granon, a punishing climb to just about 8,000 toes above sea degree that had been raced on the Tour solely as soon as earlier than, in 1986. Merely put, Vingegaard thrived on it whereas Pogacar didn’t.
With about three miles to go, Vingegaard made a fierce assault. And Pogacar, who had managed the race because it began on July 1 surprisingly didn’t — or couldn’t — reply. Vingegaard caught a couple of riders who have been up the street, raced on alone up the Granon and completed alone on the prime of the mountain in spectacular model.
An much more unlikely sight was taking part in out behind him on the mountain: Pogacar was clearly struggling. He appeared to crack within the ultimate miles, falling again to complete seventh on the day, 2 minutes 51 seconds behind the winner. That gave Vingegaard the general lead by 2:16 over Romain Bardet of France, who had a powerful day. Pogacar dropped to 3rd, now 2:22 behind.
Vingegaard, 25, of Denmark, emerged on the scene finally yr’s Tour, when he was an unlikely second on the occasion’s end in Paris, 5 minutes behind the favored Pogacar. However, within the run-up to this yr’s race, he was neglected as a possible champion behind the Slovenians Pogacar and Primoz Roglic. However as Roglic pale over the opening 10 days, Vingegaard’s robust efforts made him the clear challenger to Pogacar.
Pogacar, the two-time defending Tour de France champion, nonetheless has time to say a three-peat. Thursday’s Alpine stage ends with the signature switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez on Bastille Day. And there are robust phases to come back within the Pyrenees subsequent week in addition to a time trial on July 23, a day earlier than the race finishes in Paris. However Vingegaard has certainly seized the benefit, together with the yellow jersey.
“It’s actually unimaginable,” Vingegaard said after the stage. “It’s arduous for me to place phrases on. That is what I’ve dreamed of.”
Of his many assaults, he stated: “We wished to make it a super-hard race. We thought it was in my favor.”
Of Pogacar, he added: “On the Galibier excessive, he was actually robust and he dropped everybody else, and I used to be a bit insecure if he was going full or not. After which on the final climb I used to be considering, ‘If I don’t strive, I’m not going to win.’”
Pogacar, racing for UAE Staff Emirates, shook Vingegaard’s hand after the race with a smile. However he needed to be humbled by his personal efficiency and questioning how he may presumably catch Vingegaard within the days forward. Furthermore, he has misplaced two of his seven teammates after they examined constructive for Covid throughout the race, leaving him in need of assist in the excessive mountains.
“Tactically, they did a extremely good job,” Pogacar stated of Vingegaard’s Jumbo Visma crew. “Within the final climb, it was troublesome. However we are going to see tomorrow. I would like revenge. Le Tour isn’t over.”
