(Gruissan) Jonas Vingegaard stressed on Monday that he was “not going to give up” without a fight in the Tour de France and that he would give “everything” to turn the tide against Tadej Pogacar who is more than three minutes ahead of him in the general classification.
“I think victory is still possible. I’m not going to give up without a fight, I’ve won the Tour de France twice and I’m not going to settle for second place. I’m going to give it my all,” the Dane told the press on Monday during the rest day in Gruissan.
“I haven’t lost faith, not at all. I never crack mentally,” insisted the two-time defending champion, who is 3:09 behind the Slovenian.
Pogacar “looks very strong, but we’ve seen in the last two years that he can also have a bad day. It could happen again in the third week.”
“It’s not like he’s way above me either. If I can improve a little bit, we’ll be level. Yesterday (Sunday) I had the best performance of my life, so I can’t be disappointed,” he added.
“On the contrary, I’m really proud of what I’m doing on this Tour, especially after the three months I’ve had, with such serious injuries and twelve days in hospital. Tadej is just stronger, for now.”
The Dane insisted he was looking ahead, not behind, as Remco Evenepoel sits third, 2:10 behind the Dane.
“My mindset is more about attacking the yellow jersey than looking in the rearview mirror,” he insisted.