Tour de France: Vingegaard wins individual time trial

For two weeks, the two dominators lifted the race into their own sphere and held it there in limbo. Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar fought for seconds at eye level over 15 stages, on flat land, on hilly terrain and in the mountains. Things took a different, unexpected turn at the only time trial of this Tour de France on Tuesday.

After a splendid run against the clock over 22.4 kilometers, Jonas Vingegaard has now achieved a full, possibly decisive lead in the overall classification over his Slovenian opponent. The Dane completed the course between Passy and Combloux in the Alps in 32:36 minutes and was 1:38 minutes faster than the badly beaten Pogacar. In the competition for the yellow jersey of the two exceptional athletes, Vingegaard now has a lead of 1:48 minutes in the remaining five stages of this Tour of France.

The great moment the 26-year-old experienced on the bike on Tuesday not only shows that he clearly disregarded Pogacar, but also how far the other competitors in the peloton were inferior to him. His teammate at Equipe Jumbo-Visma, Wout van Aert, was the third best of the day, 2:51 minutes behind. A cycling world. Mind you, only 22.4 kilometers away. And Belgian superstar van Aert is an excellent time trialist in his own right.

“I thought my power meter was crazy”

It was Vingegaard’s first stage win and the first win of the day for the Dutch team, who were accustomed to success, on this tour. The captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe Jai Hindley, who was handicapped by falls, lost 4:37 minutes to the leader and is now fifth in the rankings.

“I felt great today. It was the best time trial I’ve ever ridden,” said Vingegaard. “I surprised myself, didn’t expect to drive so well. On the way I thought my power meter was crazy. The numbers were so high. ”Pogacar may not have believed that there was a day ahead when the tour could have slipped away from him. “Today I had nothing to oppose. It wasn’t my best day,” he said. Although there was no question that the 24-year-old had a bad drive.

He was also clearly ahead of the competition in terms of places, only Vingegaard drove in a league of his own. And Pogacar was unable to build on his outstanding time trial on the 2020 Tour when he snatched the yellow jersey from his compatriot Primoz Roglic on the penultimate stage in the Vosges. A trauma that runs deep at Jumbo-Visma.

Pogacar’s path to the finish quickly led to his opponent to congratulate him. The Slovenian super talent won the 2020 and 2021 tour. Now there are many indications that Vingegaard, who does not seem to have any weak phases, could also snatch the 2023 tour triumph from him after the 2022 tour.

“It’s not over yet”

“There are still a lot of tough stages to go. But we’re looking forward to it,” said Vingegaard. And Pogacar said: “It’s not over yet.” Of course, the tour hasn’t been decided yet, this Wednesday alone, with over 5000 meters of altitude to be mastered, the most difficult (Alpine) stage of the 110th edition (12.20 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for Tour de France, on Eurosport and on ARD). Especially since the ride over the more than 2300 meter high Col de la Loze will take the pros – “one of the toughest climbs in the world” (Pogacar) – to new heights on this tour.

A terrain that should actually be a bit better for Vingegaard. But the two high-flyers have already proven a number of times in this Grande Boucle that predictions are not very good. And that the momentum can switch back and forth at any time. Possibly, considering the images of this memorable time trial, the first signs of weakness at Pogacar were already visible on Sunday. Numerically superior with two helpers from his team UAE at his side, Pogacar’s attack was not really effective in the fight for seconds – Vingegaard, sitting on the saddle, had no trouble parrying the attack.

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Two days later, there was a demonstration of master class by Vingegaard on the time trial bike, on which, unlike Pogacar, he stayed seated for the entire distance. Before the ascent to the Côte de Demancy, the Slovenian had changed wheels for most of the 636 meters in altitude that the course offered.

Pogacar will probably not linger much longer with this decision and will focus on the tough Alpine test on Wednesday. You can count on a flight forward, an (attempted) general attack by him and his team UAE. But Vingegaard is a defensive artist on the bike who knows how to stay ahead. And now he has earned a significant one. At 22.4 kilometers.