The gloves were off on Wednesday’s enthralling stage of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič and Geraint Thomas threw haymakers on HC-rated giants in the Alps. At the end of the high-boil 11th stage, Jumbo-Visma’s Dane Vingegaard cracked the two-time yellow jersey Pogačar on the Col du Granon, took the win and beat the Slovenian by 2:51 to seize the race lead. Vingegaard leads second-place Bardet by 2:16.
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The Course
After the warmup climb Cat. 2 Lacets de Montvernier, there would be three nasty ascents in a row: Cat. 1 Col de Télégraph (11.9 km of 7.1 percent), the legendary HC-rated Col du Galibier (17.7 km of 6.9 percent) and the summit finish, HC-rated Col du Granon (11.3 km at 9.2 percent), which hasn’t been in the Tour since 1986. It was a very hot day in the Alps.
We’re in for a huge day at the #TDF2022!
Lacets de Montvernier, Col du Télégraphe, Col du Galibier and Col du Granon – all in the space of just 151.7 kilometers promise to make up for some exciting racing! pic.twitter.com/kwrM82K0Bg
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) July 13, 2022
Another huge breakaway formed early. From these 20 riders, Pierre Latour was first over Lacets de Montvernier and the escape started up the Col de Télégraph with a 7:30 gap on the peloton. There was a natural decanting on the Télégraph, and a group of 10 with Wout Van Aert, Latour and KOM leader Simon Geschke kept grinding into the slopes. UAE-Emirates toiled at the front of the peloton.
Mathieu van der Poel, who wasn’t clicking on all gears in the 109th edition and having another tough day right from Lacets de Montvernier, climbed off the bike.
🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel is the first to be dropped in the Lacets de Montvernier from the group!
🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel est le premier coureur distancé dans l’échappée !#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/NKkZZQy9wk
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 13, 2022
Back in the peloton, Primož Roglič attacked with a teammate in a tester. This early bid created a yellow jersey group of 30.
Latour took the maximum KOM points atop the Télégraph, Warren Barguil was second and Geschke third.
Roglič then attacked over the top and the descent. Pogačar found his wheel, as did Christoph Laporte, Vingegaard and Thomas. Laporte was the first to drop away.
Col du Galibier
The Galibier would be this year’s Souvenir Henri Desgrange, the highest point of the…
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