Good Vingegaard was simply outclassed by Pogacar: "He can't go much faster"

While Jonas Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike were still full of optimism after the eleventh stage through the Central Massif, that optimism was significantly dampened after the first Pyrenean stage. The defending Tour winner had to acknowledge his inferiority to Tadej Pogacar on the final climb to Pla d'Adet. Pogacar gained 43 seconds on Vingegaard, including bonus seconds.

After the stage, Vingegaard gave a reaction to the Dutch NOS, which naturally came with mixed feelings. "Tadej made a very strong attack, but ultimately my performance was also good. So I can't be disappointed. The time loss is of course disappointing. That also happened because the climb flattened out towards the end and there were even some descending parts. That suited Pogacar better," he said, implying that the final phase was less to his liking.

But Vingegaard is also optimistic. "On the steep part, I was catching up to him. He gained the most time on the flat, because of his total power. That gives me confidence for tomorrow. The final climb is very different tomorrow." The strength of the teams also came up. "He has a strong team, but so did I today. I was constantly surrounded by a teammate. On the final climb, you could see that Matteo (Jorgenson, ed.) really rode hard when Adam Yates attacked. I am satisfied with the team's performance," Vingegaard concludes.

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🇫🇷 #TDF2024 We lost a battle, but definitely not the war. ⚔️ Jonas finishes second in the stage to Pla d’Adet. New chance coming up tomorrow. 😏

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Niermann: "He dropped Evenepoel, Jonas was simply very good"

Team director Grischa Niermann also gave his account to the Dutch broadcast after the stage. "Unfortunately, we lost time to Pogacar. We knew he was going to attack on the final climb. It happened and Jonas couldn't keep up. I think he did very well. Pogacar was just stronger. You have to accept that." UAE Team Emirates took the initiative early on in the stage and wore out the competition with a high pace. "We were not surprised by that," Niermann said. "We knew it was going to be a fast pace and that Pogacar was going to make a move on the final climb. It was just a question of where he would attack."

"From the last few days, we knew that when Pogacar accelerates, Vingegaard struggles to follow," Niermann continued. "Initially, he limited the damage well. However, in the last two kilometers, he lost quite a bit of time. That's unfortunate, but it's just a good performance from Jonas and that's what we have to work with. Hats off to Pogacar, he was the very best today. Jonas dropped Remco Evenepoel. He was simply very good, but not good enough to follow Pogacar."

The gap between Vingegaard and Pogacar is now almost two minutes, 1.57 minutes to be precise. "It's definitely a big blow," the team director said about the time loss. "We are now almost two minutes behind. That's hard to bridge. But it's definitely still possible. Again, Pogacar was super strong today and tomorrow is a new day," concludes Niermann.

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Vingegaard's numbers do not paint a hopeful picture

Sports director Merijn Zeeman had a quick look at Vingegaard's wattages on the final climb after the finish. They did not paint an optimistic picture for the Dane to later make up the gap to Pogacar. "They said he reached a very high level and that he can't go much harder," Zeeman told Wielerflits. "That also says something about Pogacar's performance. Jonas was certainly not worse today, Pogacar was just much better. That's why he deservedly won, but we still have a lot of motivation and morale for the coming week. We're really going to put everything on the line to keep the Tour exciting," Zeeman concludes on a combative note.

Lieutenant Matteo Jorgenson also gave his reaction after the finish, speaking to ITV Cycling. "The stage went as we had expected. Up to the final climb, we of course hoped that Jonas would not lose time. We wanted to leave the control to UAE and save our energy a bit. UAE did very well, hats off," the American is not too proud to compliment the competitor. Asked about Pogacar's impressive attack, Jorgenson commented, "He was flying. From the foot of the climb to the point where he attacked we rode very good wattages. He's definitely flying. Jonas almost caught up, but ultimately did not. We have to accept it as it is," he concludes.