How Tadej Pogacar and his five-star team wrung out Jonas Vingegaard

The Emirati team put all its riders on the Galibier pass on Tuesday to break up the peloton. Even Jonas Vingegaard had to give way to Tadej Pogacar, who set off alone to victory.

Tadej Pogacar had some scores to settle. Isolated and more than a minute behind Jonas Vingegaard last year during the first mountain stage, while he was returning from injury, the Slovenian got his own back on the Dane on Tuesday, July 2, by going for his 12th victory on the Tour and the yellow jersey. For this single day in the high mountains before the 14th stage, Tadej Pogacar did what we imagined he would do: take advantage of the collective strength of his team to wring out all the opponents, until he unhooked the last survivor, who was indeed Jonas Vingegaard.

In the end, the result is not an insurmountable chasm, but the gap at the finish is significant: 37 seconds lost for the Dane, two less for Primoz Roglic or Remco Evenepoel, who had announced the scenario of the day even before the start of the Tour. “UAE, and especially Pogacar, want to somehow “get revenge” for what Jumbo-Visma did last year to UAE Emirates. So I think the situation is a bit reversed: they will do the Jumbo tactic with Jonas in the role of Tadej”prophesied the Belgian.

To succeed in its enterprise, the Emirati team launched all its rockets one after the other: Nils Politt and Tim Wellens skimmed off the foot of the passes, Marc Soler and Pavel Sivakov shook up the outsiders, before the Ayuso-Almeida-Yates trio isolated the last unfortunates stuck to their saddles, who were trying to follow the infernal white and black train. “That was the plan: Nils first, then Tim, Marc, me and then the four best climbers we have. It went as we wanted, it paid off.”revealed Frenchman Pavel Sivakov. “Five star work for the whole team”Joao Almeida sums up.

All the outsiders, like Matteo Jorgenson, Felix Gall or Santiago Buitrago, were exhausted five kilometres from the summit of the Galibier, there were then only eight riders left: Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and his team-mate Mikel Landa then… four UAE riders. “Oset a good pace in the Galibier because we wanted to see the level of the teams in general, not just the leaders. I am more than satisfied with what they showed, it was exceptional”developed manager Mauro Gianetti.

“We showed today that we have one of the biggest teams, they did a fantastic job.”

One after the other, while he was nestled in the wheels, sheltered from the wind, Tadej Pogacar’s last teammates flexed their muscles. “The whole team was maybe even better than we thought”said Mauro Gianetti.

800 meters from the summit, the Slovenian zebulon jumped on springs. Only followed by Jonas Vingegaard, who finally also had to admit defeat in the last few hundred metres of the pass: seven seconds difference at the summit, 37 at the finish, and 50 overall for the Dane. “The climb itself is not that hard, only the last part is really steep. It would not have been smart to attack earlier. There was only one moment where he could make the difference, and he did.”explains Joao Almeida.

With its strength in numbers, Team UAE Emirates could have sent a lone man in front, forcing its opponents, already with their tongues hanging out, to ride to catch up. But it preferred to stay together, because the objective was clear: to bully Jonas Vingegaard until the end, convincing since the start of the Tour but logically a little short, he who has not raced since his fall at the beginning of April. “I knew I could win and make up a few seconds. But to do it this way is special.”greeted the winner.

In this boxing match where each side sends the other to the ropes as soon as they can, Tadej Pogacar won the first round of this edition. “We must not work to tire Jonas [Vingegaard]but it’s certain that we have a good lead and I’m in great shape, better than last year. I saw him in excellent condition today, we’ll know a little more later”assured the Slovenian.

But the previous edition reminded us that the truth of one pass is not necessarily that of the next. With a 50-second deficit in the general classification, Jonas Vingegaard is well and truly in the hunter’s shoes. Enough to hide his game until the third week, where the power curves between the two could well reverse.