ORLEANS, France : “Still Standing Vingegaard Awaits Tour de France”, With defending champion Jonas Vingegaard entering the event having not raced for three months, Tadej Pogacar was hoping to put the hammer down early in the Tour de France, but while he leads on the first rest day.
After nine stages, Pogacar has the yellow jersey and leads Belgian Remco Evenepoel by 33 seconds and Denmark’s Vingegaard by 1:15.
However, despite the success so far, it’s premature to begin celebrating a potential Giro d’Italie/Tour de France double, a feat not achieved since 1998. This cautious approach acknowledges the unpredictable nature of cycling and the challenges that lie ahead in maintaining peak performance across both prestigious races.
Predictably, Pogacar took a swashbuckling approach to the race and managed to gain time on Vingegaard in the individual time trial and first high mountain stage, although most of the seconds he won that day were down to his descending skills.
On the second stage, he tried to distance Vingegaard on a short, punchy climb, but failed. On Sunday, on a stage peppered with gravel roads, he tried relentlessly, but failed again.
“Tadej was the strongest,” remarked Vingegaard, responding to criticisms from Pogacar and Evenepoel about his defensive tactics. Evenepoel suggested that Vingegaard needed to show more courage during the race.
Vingegaard, who three months ago sustained a collapsed lung and rib fractures in a crash at the Tour of the Basque Country, called it “riding smart” when asked about Evenepoel’s comments.
The leading trio had the chance to distance fourth-placed Primoz Roglic on Sunday, but Vingegaard refused to collaborate, only focusing on not losing time.
The Visma-Lease a Bike leader is waiting for his moment, knowing five more mountain stages and a potentially decisive time trial are still to come.
