Jonas Vingegaard won the 11th stage of the Tour de France in a sprint-a-deux with Tadej Pogacar after a gruelling mountain stage. It is the fourth stage win ever for Vingegaard, who won for the first time since his crash in Itzulia Basque Country in early April.
“This win means a lot to me”, an emotional Vingegaard said afterwards. “Everything I went through in the past few months is now coming back. The period after my crash in Itzulia Basque Country was tough. It’s a victory for my family. They have always been by my side.”
The 211-kilometre 11th stage in the Tour de France took the peloton from Évaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran. After a hilly opening stage, the riders were presented with four categorised climbs in the final 60 kilometres. On the Puy Mary, the group of favourites, including Vingegaard, grabbed the last remaining escapees. On the steep flanks, Pogacar attacked. Vingegaard reached the foot of the next climb, the Col de Pertus, half a minute behind the classification leader. Together with Primoz Roglic, the Dane started the chase.
On the Col de Pertus, Vingegaard, who had meanwhile left Roglic behind, came closer to Pogacar. In the final metres of the climb, Vingegaard joined the Slovenian. The two then rode together towards the finish in Le Lioran. After a true battle, Vingegaard eventually proved to have the fastest legs in the sprint. He won his fourth Tour stage ever.
“I couldn’t follow Pogacar’s attack on the Puy Mary, although I certainly didn’t have a big gap up top”, Vingegaard said. “I that I just had to keep fighting and find my own pace. On the descent, he managed to gain some time, so I wasn’t expecting to be able to come back. It ended up being a narrow sprint, but I immediately felt the victory was mine. Three months ago I could not have imagined this.”
Sports Director Frans Maassen: “After the Puy Mary, it looked like we were going to have to limit the damage, but he did it. This win will definitely be among his best ever. The moment he joined Pogacar was actually a victory in itself, but he has exceeded it. Everything remains playable in GC. They are evenly matched, they proved that again today. We will keep fighting until Nice.”
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