Today was the day that Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) at last threw in the towel, conceding defeat and accepting what many have believed inevitable since the Pyrenees — that there was nothing to be done about preventing Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) from reclaiming his Tour de France crown. If defeat wasn’t already beyond reasonable doubt, it certainly was the moment Pogačar launched yet another attack halfway up the final climb of Isola 2000. By the time Vingegaard reached the top, he had conceded another 1:52 to his rival, falling to a 5:03 behind him on GC.
It was a defeat he found hard to take. The defending champion looked a broken man at the finish, in tears while he hugged his wife. Usually so cool and calm, and rarely one to show emotion, the sight of him seeming so inconsolable came as a shock, and revealed just how badly he wanted to win this Tour de France.
He and Visma-Lease a Bike had begun the day still carrying the hope of turning the race upside down. Stage 19 was this year’s high altitude stage, which in recent years has been the territory where Pogačar has most suffered — first in 2022, when he lost the yellow jersey and almost three minutes to Vingegaard on the 2,400m Col du Granon; then last year, up the Col de la Loze (2,300m), where he cracked completely to lose almost six minutes. With all three of today’s three climbs peaking at over 2,000m (including one, the Cime de la Bonette, that at 2,800m is the highest point of the whole race) Visma-Lease a Bike sensed an opportunity, and were clearly targeting these high summits as a chance to try and at least put the yellow jersey under pressure.
In the early phase of the stage, their plan seemed to be coming into fruition. They managed to get multiple riders in a breakaway at the start of the day, and, though Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert couldn’t keep up with the pace once they started climbing the first mountain, Matteo Jorgenson and Wilco Keldmernan were at the front of the race building a lead. UAE Team Emirates chased hard, clearly uncomfortable with letting two such strong climbers up the road to potentially help Vingegaard later in the stage. But after a long chase, they eventually had to give up the ghost, and accept the situation.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s plan seemed to be for Vingegaard to attack at some point, in the optimistic hope of getting a gap on Pogačar, and then using Jorgenson and Kelderman to pace him upon bridging…