Vingegaard rides Pogacar out of yellow leader’s jersey with victory in compelling mountain stage | NOW

Jonas Vingegaard crowned a fine example of Jumbo-Visma’s team tactics on Wednesday by winning the eleventh stage of the Tour de France. Less than 5 kilometers before the finish on the Col du Granon, the 25-year-old Dane broke away from jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar, who experienced a breakdown that was rare for him.

Vingegaard, second in the Tour last year behind Pogacar, was 39 seconds behind at the start of the stage. He more than made up for that with his acceleration in the final phase.

The Slovenian classification leader, who has impressed on the cols for the last two years, saw one rider after another pass during the last kilometers. In the end Pogacar finished no less than 2 minutes and 52 seconds from Vingegaard.

Nairo Quintana crossed the line in second on the Granon, just under a minute from the stage winner. Romain Bardet was third, at 1.10 minutes. The latter climbed to second place in the general classification. Steven Kruijswijk finished ninth on Wednesday, almost four minutes behind his triumphant teammate.

In the battle for the yellow jersey, Vingegaard has a margin of 2.16 minutes on Bardet. Pogacar is number three at 2.22 minutes.

The first real mountain stage was fascinating: at an early stage Jumbo-Visma tried to isolate the jersey wearer Pogacar with many attacks. Vingegaard finished this team game in a very nice way.

Van der Poel attacks and later gives up

Of course there has been enough climbs this Tour de France, but on Wednesday the first real mountain stage was scheduled in the Alps. The ride counted 151.7 kilometers and on the way the peloton was faced with the Col du Télégraphe and Col du Galibier.

The finish was at an altitude of more than 2,400 meters on the Col du Granon, a mountain that was last climbed by the Tour peloton in 1986. At the time, Bernard Hinault lost the yellow leader’s jersey to the later overall winner Greg Lemond after an iconic stage.

Wednesday’s ride can also be called memorable. Immediately after the start Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert attacked. The multiple cyclocross world champions were quickly joined by other adventurers, including Warren Barguil, Simon Geschke and Tony Gallopin.

On the Lacets de Montvernier, the first ascent of the day with numerous hairpin bends, Van der Poel had to let his fellow refugees go. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider would later discontinue the fight, as a result of which he did not make it to Paris for the second year in a row. In the meantime, the leading group cycled to a lead of about nine minutes.

Jumbo-Visma puts Pogacar under great pressure

In the recent Tour de France editions, the favorites often stayed together for a long time in mountain stages, but everything was different on Wednesday. Already in the descent of the Télégraphe, Primoz Roglic took off, with which Jumbo-Visma launched the attack on Pogacar.

A fascinating battle was thus ushered in. With different gears, the Dutch team tried to isolate the yellow jersey wearer, a tactic that was successful. Long before the finish, a select group of favorites arose, but the classification leader saw all his teammates drop out, although Rafal Majka came back later.

Pogacar himself did not flinch and reacted convincingly to all attacks. The Slovenian even drove alone with Vingegaard for a while, but the duo did not continue. The pace dropped somewhat, so that the previously released riders could rejoin the Pogacar group. All favorites were together again at the start of the final climb.

Meanwhile, Barguil had made the difference up front. During the climb of the Galibier, the Frenchman had shaken off the other adventurers, after which he started the final climb with a margin of more than five minutes on the Pogacar group.

Vingegaard catches up with the leaders

On the Col du Granon, a selection quickly emerged in the Pogacar group. Roglic had to let go of the favorites and also the strongly racing Kruiswijk was unable to keep up with the pace. Quintana had at that time started chasing his teammate Barguil.

Both riders were outflanked by Vingegaard, who quickly made up for ground from the background. Pogacar simply couldn’t keep up and lost about three minutes to the Dane in less than 5 kilometers.

The riders will not exactly get the chance to catch their breath on Thursday. The finish is then on Alpe d’Huez, after, among other things, the Galibier is climbed from the other side than that of Wednesday.

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