The Slovenian again distanced himself from his Danish rival on the last slopes of the Puy de Dôme on Sunday.
It was not the fireworks of the Col du Granon last year, and the Tour did not change, but Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard still explained themselves at the puy de Dôme, Sunday July 9. Very far from the winner of the day Michael Woods, the Slovenian and the Dane scrapped in the last kilometer of the day, and it was the first to emerge victorious. On arrival, the accounting result remains meager, with eight seconds of recovery by Pogacar on his rival.
But after the demonstration in Cauterets, during the last Pyrenean mountain stage, the interest is elsewhere, because Pogacar has just won Vingegaard twice in a row, which he had never managed since the first week of the Tour de France 2021. “It’s a good day. Before the final climb it wasn’t very hard and the legs were turning well. I thought I was going to attack. I sent, Jonas was strong but I’m very happy to take some time off and put him under pressure,” welcomed the white jersey at the finish, now 17 seconds behind Vingegaard overall.
The Dane, who assumed his yellow jersey and rolled his team from the foot of the giant of Auvergne, could only see the current superiority of Pogacar, whom he had however damn shaken during the first explanation. “He was incredibly strong today and he deserves to take back those eight seconds. I think we are both at a very high level but the stages that suit me best are still ahead of us. It will be a tough fight.” , noted the Dane, whose anxious and cerebral character will undoubtedly plunge him into reflection during the first day of rest, Monday.
Pogacar loves his role as a hunter
Because Pogacar is gradually starting to eat his brain and his certainties acquired during the last Dauphiné and the first mountain stage. Vingegaard is far from having exploded on Sunday, but he gave in again, and confidence has visibly changed sides. “Pogacar was just a bit better, maybe he took a slight mental advantage, yes. Of course, when you gain time on the last two mountain stages, it can be a small advantage but Jonas can be confident , our team is strong, we are still in the race”, tempered Arthur van Dongen, assistant sports director at Jumbo-Visma. “It’s not a lot, but every second on this Tour can be very important. The difference between the two is very small, we gained a few seconds mathematically and morally today”confirmed Mauro Gianetti, the manager of UAE-Emirates.
Still in Vingegaard’s rear-view mirror, Tadej Pogacar has an additional advantage before the break in Clermont-Ferrand: that of not having the burden of the yellow jersey, and therefore of the race. A tracker costume that he had said he liked before the Tour. By letting the Yellow and Blacks lead the group of favorites on Sunday, which was relieved of the French, the Emirati team kept their strength, and Adam Yates, the co-leader, is 5th overall on Sunday evening. “It was a good day for us, with Tadej taking time. Having Yates well ranked can be important in the next few weeks, but it’s still a very long time,” underlined the Slovenian’s teammate, Félix Grossschartner.
Conversely, for the Dutch, keeping this jersey is a sign of the good health of the team. “At the end of the day, I’m happy to have kept the yellow jersey because we wouldn’t have thought we would have it after the first week”welcomed Vingegaard at the top, on the same line as his sporting director Arthur van Dongen. “It’s never nice to waste time, but we still have the yellow jersey and are in the game, so we don’t have to worry.”
The next mano a mano should now take place on July 14, at the Col du Grand Colombier. An interminable climb of 17km which could suit the Dane more than the Slovenian. “There are two weeks left until Paris, the time trial, a lot of mountain stages. We still have a lot of opportunities”, recalled the Dutch sporting director. Until then, Vingegaard will have time to think, Pogacar to warm up in the wheel of his rival, in order to test him again and again. “When I look at the last two stages, Pogacar is perhaps a little more favorite than Jonas at the moment. But the most important thing is to be in yellow in Paris”, concludes Arthur van Dongen. In this game, it is Vingegaard who has the advantage. But for how much longer?