Jonas Vingegaard wins Tour de France Stage 11, but Tadej Pogacar extends lead
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Jonas Vingegaard shaking hands with Tadej Pogacar after winning Stage 11 of the Tour de France, on July 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LE LIORAN – Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard held off race leader Tadej Pogacar to win the 11th stage of the Tour de France on July 10, having caught the Slovenian after he made a break with over 30km left.
The 211km ride from Evaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran is the second-longest stage on the 2024 Tour and, while the expected early breaks materialised, it came down to the main contenders, with the overall top four making up the first four at the finish.
For Vingegaard, who came into the Tour having not raced for three months after suffering a collapsed lung and fractured rib, this was a significant victory over the race leader and favourite.
“It’s of course very emotional for me,” the 27-year-old said.
“Coming back from the crash, it means a lot and all the things I went through in the last three months, it makes you think of that and I would never have been able to do this without my family.
“It means so much to me. I’m so happy about the victory today. I would never have thought this three months ago.”
Pogacar, twice Tour champion, still extended his overall lead to 1min 6sec over Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, who finished third in the stage, with Vingegaard of Denmark a further 8sec back in the general classification.
A group of 10 riders managed to get away for long parts of the race, but Pogacar’s UAE Emirates teammates controlled the front of the peloton and never let a large gap open up.
Irishman Ben Healy was the last to resist before being swallowed up by the chasing pack with 1km left to the top of Pas de Peyrol, the toughest of the stage’s six climbs, and Pogacar made his move close to the summit.
The 25-year-old extended his lead on the descent, but Vingegaard showed his mettle and left Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic behind to go in pursuit of the leader, catching him just before the top of the next climb with less than 15km to the finish.
The final descent to the finish was a narrow ride and Vingegaard took the lead on the home straight in a game of cat-and-mouse and, when they finally started sprinting, he just held off Pogacar on the line.
“I couldn’t follow the attack he had, it was a very, very strong attack. I just had to fight and actually I didn’t think that I would be able to make it back,” Vingegaard said.
“But I just kept fighting, and I made it back and started relaying with him. A bit surprised I could beat him in the sprint.”
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Roglic came fourth after crashing close to the finish but, as it happened in the final 3km, he lost only 25sec on the leaders, the same as Evenepoel, rather than 55.
REUTERS
