The Dane’s opponents are slowly at a loss. She is now pinning all her hopes on the upcoming Pyrenees stages, with the last one having a bad reputation.
Jonas Vingegaard is being pursued by defending champion Tadej Pogacar: the Danes are unperturbed even after Foix.
The starter of the three-course Pyrenees menu of the Tour de France on Tuesday did not quite live up to what one had hoped. The defending champion Tadej Pogacar attacked on the first of the two climbs in the first category. But again he couldn’t shake his yellow shadow Jonas Vingegaard. He was just as relaxed at the press conference as he was on the mountain. “I know that Tadej wants to attack me, that he tries to do it further away from the goal,” he commented on the skirmish that took place around 50 km from Foix. “It doesn’t bother me at all if things get down to business early. The harder the race, the better for me,” he concluded laconically.
Vingegaard’s resilience brings signs of resignation to the faces of Pogacar’s teammates. “What can you do? It doesn’t matter whether Tadej makes short, explosive starts or drives a long attack, whether he accelerates early in the day or only in the final – Vinegaard has always had an answer so far,” concluded his Swiss team manager Mauro Gianetti.
There are still seven Pyrenees mountains in the way
But the team manager didn’t want that to be taken as a signal to give up. Pogacar himself also emphasized that he would continue to attack. “I don’t want to blame myself for not having tried everything.”
But the possibilities are diminishing day by day. And Vingegaard, who let a breakaway fight for the day’s win on Tuesday, is getting closer and closer to overall success. Seven Pyrenean mountains are still in his way, four of them on Wednesday. The goal is Peyragudes, a more recent tour summit. The Spaniard Alejandro Valverde won the premiere ten years ago. The Brits Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome arrived shortly after him, consolidating their 1st and 2nd place in the standings.
The relatively short time intervals at that time are a sign that the eight-kilometer climb is not too difficult for the elite riders – the day’s winner and the twelfth place were only 90 seconds apart. Even in 2017, when Romain Bardet won and the Italian Fabio Aru briefly dethroned Chris Froome as leader, the time gaps were small. What makes the stage interesting this year, however, is that it is very short at 129.7 km. There won’t be a long roll-up: Already at the first of the four peaks, the Col d’Aspin, things should get down to business. After that it goes up and down, hardly a kilometer is used for relaxation – this profile is made for Pogacar’s attacks. But also made for Jonas Vingegaard, the man who loves bike races especially when they are tough.
Almost only doping offenders distinguished themselves in Hautacam
Vingegaard’s noble helper Sepp Kuss considers the 18th stage on Thursday to be more decisive. “The climbs are longer, that will be noticeable,” the American looks ahead. The final summit, Hautacam, is particularly tough with a length of 13.6 km and an average gradient of 7.8 percent.
In the history of the Tour de France, Hautacam is among the peaks with the darkest spots. In 1996, the Dane Bjarne Riis laid the foundation for his Tour victory here. In 2000, the American Lance Armstrong conquered yellow as second on the day. In 2008 the Italian Leonardo Piepoli won ahead of Juan José Cobo. All of these professionals were later convicted of doping. Only the winner of 2014, Vincenzo Nibali, is not surrounded by a fraud affair. The Tour de France organizer ASO dares something when they build in this summit as an executioner for the classification of their tour.