Tourist
Favorite Tadej Pogacar plunges in the final of the 11th stage of the Tour de France. The Slovenian apparently gets it lightly. But the first stage in the Pyrenees is already on Thursday.
The world champion was quickly gone. Even in the target area of the 11th stage of the Tour de France in Toulouse, Pogacar had assured his colleague that he was okay, had accepted the apology of the Norwegian Tobias Johannessen and then climbed into the team bus with a bloodstained left forearm and torn pants.
Then it took a while for the first news about Pogacar’s condition. “It is not a big injury”the head of the UAE team Mauro Gianetti said the media representatives balancing around the best places. The Slovenian carried out a few skin abrasions – nothing else: “He is upset about the fall, the fact that he has to live with it now, the day before Hautacam. But physically it is not a problem.”
Sportschau Tourfunk, July 16, 2025 7:52 p.m.
Johannessen drives Pogacar
Pogacar came down around seven kilometers before the finish, when an attack was launched in the badly decimated field of favorites on the right. Pogacar was still accessible to his radio, when Johannessen also moved across to the right and obviously overlooked Pogacar, whom he drove directly into the front wheel.
However, the racing jury could not recognize a offense in it. In any case, no punishment for Johannessen was noted in the official communique. The Norwegian was also not held responsible for Pogacar’s fall at the UAE team. “It was a normal crash”said Gianetti, “But cycling has once again shown that all fair play want and that the legs in the mountains should decide the game.”
Vingegaard speaks of “good sports spirit”
Apart from the fact that the word “fair play” from Gianetti’s mouth, which was once chased by the Tour de France courtyard due to various doping offenses of his then team, sounds a bit strange, the Swiss was quite right.
Pogacar’s fall had happened outside the fall zone. So he could have lost valuable time on the competition. But after Pogacar fell, the group in which the Slovenian was located had been waiting for him until Pogacar had opened up again.
“We could see that he had fallen, so we decided to wait for him”said Pogacar’s greatest rival in the fight for the tour victory, Jonas Vingegaard, the broadcaster TV2. When asked about the reason, the Dane replied: “Because it’s good sports spirit. “ The fall was pitch. “It was not because he gambled in a curve or something.”
The Irishman Ben Healy, who defended his yellow jersey in Toulouse, converted on Monday, also explained that it was a question of respect: “It was a flat target and nobody expected larger intervals, because the consensus was that we take it out and let him get it back.”
Especially since the stage win was no longer discussed for the group around the yellow jersey. He went to the outlier Jonas Abrahamsen, who was already four kilometers in front of the finish with his escape companion Mauro Schmid at the time of Pogacar’s fall – with a lead of around three minutes.
“It could have been much worse”
So for Pogacar things could have ended more seriously – also physically. Because the Slovenian had slipped over the asphalt in the direction of a curb and was able to prevent it from slow it with his head and shoulder.
Accordingly, his teammates were relieved after the first shock had passed. The Belgian Tim Wellens had climbed out of the team bus in a white T-shirt with the inscription “Pogi”. “I think it could have been much worse”, said Wellens.
Now it goes into the Pyrenees
Nevertheless, the fall Pogacar will employ. Because in recent years he had always been spared such mishaps. But now he goes with abrasions and a restless night in the first showdem of strength in the high mountains. The 12th stage on Wednesday ends in Hautacam after a 13.5 km long final increase with an average of 7.8 percent gradient.
“This is not ideal”said Pogacar’s teammate Wellens: “It will sleep less well. The body needs energy so that the wounds heal again.” Energy that the Slovenen may be missing elsewhere.