With just nine days of racing at the Tour de France behind them, Jonas Vingegaard is already 2:42 behind Tadej Pogačar, with the Dane losing most of his time after he was well-beaten by the World Champion on the stage 6 to Gavarnie-Gèdre.
Even still, his Visma-Lease a Bike team won’t be giving up the challenge until they reach Paris, vowing to try everything in the fight against Pogačar as they look to the brutally-difficult third week as an opportunity enough to turn the deficit around.
Of course, two-time winner Vingegaard would never openly admit that the Tour was a lost cause this early, no matter the gap, but he now has an uphill battle, and form to find if he is going to compete as the Dutch team had originally hoped.
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“If I would throw in the towel, then I would also not be a good DS. We look for every chance in the upcoming two weeks. We will fight for every second, and we will do that until Paris,” said lead Directeur Sportiff Marc Reef one day after the UAE Team Emirates-XRG race leader destroyed everyone on the Col du Tourmalet.
“It’s something that starts with the plan and with belief in ourselves. We had a strategy that we went into the Tour with, that is still there, and the stages where the big differences are going to be made are also still upcoming.”
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Jonas Vingegaard, in the Polka Dot Mountain Jersey, takes shelter from the heat prior to stage 9 in Malemort (Image credit: Getty Images)
Speaking on Danish TV2’s AftenTour after Sunday’s ninth stage, Vingegaard spoke openly about how he needed to make a change for this season – riding the Giro and altering his preparation – and the disappointment of the Tourmalet stage. He also responded to those who have been saying the Tour is already over.
“Is the Tour finished?” he was asked. “I don’t think so,” responded Vingegaard. “Many people think so, but I don’t. I’ve been behind before and won. I believe it can be done. I’ll fight all the way to Paris.”
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When Vingegaard won the Tour in 2022, he didn’t take control until Visma’s incredible team exhibition on stage 11 to the Col du Granon, but he had entered that day chasing Pogačar, who was already in yellow and 39 seconds ahead overall.
However, 2:42 is a much larger margin, and this is the largest lead any rider had held over second place heading into the first rest day since Thomas Voeckler in 2004 – who led by 3:01 after winning stage 12 from the break.
‘We believe that I can get better and better’
With a strong desire for a jump in form, Vingegaard revealed how he also started slowly at the Giro d’Italia he won back in May. He’s well aware he will need more than he showed on stage 6, but he’s adamant that there is more performance in his legs to extract.
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“We had a good start to the race and won the team time trial, and I had two days in the yellow jersey, and that was, of course, nice,” said Vingegaard on TV2.
“The way things went on the Tourmalet stage was not exactly what I had hoped for. That’s how it is now, and we believe that I can get better and better throughout the race. So I’m actually quite confident for the rest of the race.
“I felt a bit the same way in the Giro. It wasn’t the best start I had there. I got into the bike race better in the second and third weeks, and I got better and better – significantly better throughout the race. Of course, we also hope that I can be significantly better than I was on the Tourmalet. I believe I can do that, and the team believes so too.”
Reef also noted how the power number that Vingegaard produced on the Tourmalet – albeit not enough to follow their rival – was enough to keep the team hungry, hoping he grows into the remaining 16 stages and, most importantly, the two days to Alpe d’Huez on the final Friday and Saturday.
“He pushed quite good numbers, especially in the circumstances with the heat, also with the climbing,” said Reef “I think that the difference was actually quite small, especially on the Tourmalet. It was not that big.
“He stayed for a long time, really, really close, up to seven seconds, I think, for the first 2.5km after the attack of Pogačar, and then Jonas had had difficulties to keep up with the pace, but also Pogačar had, because otherwise it would have been a bigger gap over the top.
“So we are confident also with normally how Jonas grows more and more into the race, that he will get better and better.”
Where can Visma make the difference in weeks two and three?
Twelve months ago, Visma tried to open up the punchy first week of the Tour with aggressive racing, utilising the ‘Classics-style’ squad they had brought to support Vingegaard, but Matteo Jorgenson had said how the route in 2026 just hasn’t allowed for a repeat of that.
Reef was also asked about whether Visma would have to start being more aggressive now that the gap is 2:42, but he quickly responded that there was still no need to panic or veer from the original plan, yet.
“At this moment, where we are standing, not yet, but the further we get to Paris, yes, the higher the risk we can take,” he said.
“Of course, it’s disappointing what we had [on stage 6], but the Tour is still two weeks. Also, he himself said immediately that we have a lot to fight for. It is 2:40, but actually also only 2:40 because he lost it on one day, and he can also turn it around on one day.”
His best chances to gain time on Pogačar, if Visma do go for orthodox methods only of dropping him mano a mano, will be on stage 10 to Le Lioran, where he beat him on a sprint in 2024, the duo of stages this weekend to Le Markstein and Plateau de Solaison, or on the two days up to Alpe d’Huez on stages 19 and 20 – the second of which is the queen stage.
So there’s plenty of road to make a big dent into Pogačar’s lead and for the Slovenian to have an off day – but he hasn’t had many of those since he last lost the Tour in 2023 at the hands of Vingegaard. All signs point to him only extending that lead, but Vingegaard’s teammates are full of belief in the opposite outcome.
“I think Jonas is a leader by example,” Jorgenson told Cyclingnews before stage 9 in Malemort.
“The way he’s against maybe the greatest cyclist of all time, still believes in himself, and still fights every day to stay as close as possible, for me, is admirable. I can only really applaud him because he really believes that he can beat him, and we all do. I think it’s amazing to see.”
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