Jonas Vingegaard has put his direct competitor Tadej Pogacar at a considerable disadvantage of one minute and 48 seconds in the general classification of the Tour de France. Vingegaard was by far the fastest on Tuesday in an individual time trial of more than 22 kilometers from Passy to Combloux. That sixteenth stage included a second category climb.
Vingegaard and Pogacar have remained very close to each other in the Tour classification so far, but on Tuesday the Dane put his rival well behind by more than a minute and a half. Before the start of the individual time trial, the mutual difference was ten seconds. The question is whether Pogacar, who changed bikes during the stage – which cost him twelve seconds -, can still make up for the difference in the coming stages.
Early in Vingegaard’s time trial it became clear that he was a lot faster than Pogacar: at the second measuring point, the Dane from Jumbo-Visma was no less than 31 seconds faster than the Slovenian. Afterwards the difference increased to more than one and a half minutes.
Vingegaard will remain the yellow jersey wearer in the Tour after Tuesday. Before Vingegaard and Pogacar came in, the Belgian Wout van Aert was the fastest in the time trial. As Vingegaard crossed the finish line, Van Aert took off his cap to compliment the Dane on his ride time. A tough mountain stage awaits in the Tour on Wednesday.