SERRE CHEVALIER, France, (Reuters) – Jonas Vingegaard threw everything at Tadej Pogacar to win an epic 11th stage of the Tour de France and replace the defending champion as the overall leader after a gruelling Alpine trek yesterday.
Last year’s runner-up Vingegaard attacked 4.9km from the finish to drop Pogacar, who had been attacked relentlessly by the Dane’s Jumbo-Visma team all day long and cracked after looking unbreakable in the first block of racing.
Pogacar held off his rivals in the Col du Telegraphe, where the offensive began 90 kilometres from the line, and the lung-busting Col du Galibier, even winking at the cameras before the final ascent, a dreaded 11.3-km climb at 9.2% to the Col du Granon, which culminates at 2,412 metres.
But Vingegaard’s brutal acceleration wiped the smile off the Slovenian’s face and Pogacar suddenly opened his jersey to get some air before seeing Geraint Thomas, David Gaudu and Adam Yates ride past him in the finale of a memorable 151.7 kilometre ride from Albertville.
Quintana took second place, 59 seconds behind, with France’s Romain Bardet finishing third, one minute and 10 seconds off the pace.
Pogacar vowed to fight on ahead of another brutal day in the Alps with the 12th stage taking a worn-out peloton from Briancon to the iconic Alpe d’Huez, going through the Col du Galibier at 2,642 metres before an endless ascent to the Col de la Croix de Fer.
The Ineos-Grenadiers team limited the damage, with Thomas taking fourth place and Yates finishing sixth on the day.
Thomas, the 2018 champion, is fourth overall, four seconds behind Pogacar, and Yates lies in sixth, 40 seconds behind his team mate.