Tour de France
Tadej Pogacar is very close to his double victory at the Giro and the Tour. During the climbing stage in the Alps, his rival Vingegaard refrains from attacks. The Slovenian significantly increases his lead again.
Photo: Daniel Cole/AP/dpa
The preliminary decision in the 111th Tour de France was also evident in the reactions of superstars Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. While the dominating Slovenian received a winner’s kiss from his fiancée Urska, the Dane lay crying in the arms of his wife Trine. The casually appearing Pogacar stands on the brink of his double triumph from Giro and Tour after his clear victory over his rival in the ski area Isola 2000 following an impressive mountain ride.
“I look better than ever, I would say. I’m super happy,” Pogacar said on Friday with dust on his face. “I thought Jonas would try at the Bonette. I think their main goal was to win the stage.”
At the Cime de la Bonette, the highest point of the Tour, the anticipated attack from Vingegaard was absent. Just under nine kilometers before the finish, Pogacar attacked the seemingly defenseless Vingegaard, overtook the few riders ahead of him from the breakaway group, and rode irresistibly away.
Two days before the final individual time trial in Nice, Pogacar crossed the finish line first after the 144.6 kilometers between Embrun and Isola 2000, ahead of Vingegaard’s American teammate Matteo Jorgenson and Brit Simon Yates. This marked Pogacar’s fourth stage win in this year’s Tour de France and his overall 15th daily victory at the Tour. The Dane Vingegaard seemed mainly concerned with defending second place in the overall standings against Belgian Remco Evenepoel.
“Pogacar is the strongest,” said Vingegaard’s sports director Grischa Niermann. “This is not the end, but it is very likely the end of winning the Tour this year,” he admitted. “In the end, Jonas has to make the call and have the legs for it. He said he does not feel he can drop Pogacar,” Niermann added.
The exceptional rider Pogacar set standards in another way as well. After the Tour day, he donned the leader’s jersey for the 37th time this year at a Grand Tour. He now shares the record with cycling legend Eddy Merckx. The Belgian set the record in 1970. Pogacar wore the pink jersey at the Giro 20 times in 2024 and the yellow jersey of the Tour 17 times.
In the overall standings, the man in the yellow jersey significantly extended his comfortable lead. He is now 5:03 ahead of defending champion Vingegaard, 7:01 ahead of third-placed Evenepoel. Unless there is a performance collapse, illness, or crash, Pogacar should celebrate his third Tour victory on Sunday in Nice on the Côte d’Azur.
In the crucial Alpine stage, the professional cyclists faced dizzying heights again. At the Cime de la Bonette, the highest point ever ridden in the Tour awaited with 2802 meters of elevation. Before that, the Col de Vars had to be conquered. Both climbs were of the highest category.
Mainly the sprinters reached their limits and had to hope not to fall out of the time limit. The organizers had slightly adjusted the time limit in favor of the fast men. Vingegaard’s team knew that they had to deliver to pose a threat to Pogacar. From the start, they set the pace, driving the breakaway group forward. However, the expected attack from Vingegaard at the Bonette did not materialize – especially since Pogacar had four teammates with him. The Dane had none.
Although there are still two stages to go with the Alpine stage from Nice to Col de la Couillole on Saturday and the final time trial from Monaco to Nice, the performances shown cast doubt on whether Pogacar can still be displaced from the top of the overall classification.