Like death and taxes, there are two certainties on this Tour de France. By now, sweltering heat and Tadej Pogačar attacks are simply part of the daily rhythm. Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert discussed the former behind the podium in Foix, where they temporarily swapped their sodden yellow and green jerseys for ice jackets.
“Today was so humid. It was much drier on the other days,” Vingegaard said, not in complaint but as a simple statement of fact. Van Aert nodded his assent as he climbed aboard his bike to warm down, and they soft pedalled side by side as they waited for the podium ceremonies to begin. One day less.
Vingegaard had dealt comfortably with the soaring temperatures to this point, and he didn’t appear to be remotely discommoded by the additional humidity that characterised stage 16 over the Port de Lers and the Mur de Péguère.
In much the same way, Vingegaard had responded promptly to Pogačar’s every acceleration so far on the Tour, and he maintained that record on the first day in the Pyrenees, even when the Slovenian sought to turn up the heat in unexpected places. Vingegaard finished the day alongside Pogačar, 5:54 behind stage winner Hugo Houle (Israel Premier Tech) to maintain his overall lead of 2:22.
“I’m just trying to do my best every day,” Vingegaard said. “I know Tadej will attack me, so every day is about trying to follow him and not leaving any gaps to him. Of course, there’s also a lot of other riders I have to follow if they attack. I did that today.”
Pogačar’s first acceleration came near the top of the Port de Lers with 59km still to race, and Vingegaard tracked it immediately. There were shades of Contador and Schleck in 2010, when they both stalled shortly afterwards and eyed one another. Pogačar, inevitably, kicked again, but still, Vingegaard didn’t cede an inch.
On the way down the other side, Pogačar flung himself onto the offensive once more, and one thought of Merckx and Ocaña on the Col de Menté, but Vingegaard’s descending was nerveless. The danger was soon snuffed out and the duellists sat up to allow the rest of the podium contenders to catch them up.
“I expect him to attack me on every moment, I just have to be ready,” Vingegaard said afterwards, when asked for his thoughts on going head-to-head with Pogačar so far from the finish. “Does it suit me? Well, I think at least it’s not bad for me to go early. For me, I have the feeling that the harder it is, the better.”
Van Aert
Tuesday’s stage was the first…
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