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MALACAUNE, France (Velo) — Jonas Vingegaard proved Tuesday on the Tour de France’s most famous climb that he’s willing to risk losing the race to win it.
By week three of the Tour, race-ragged riders and teams will often settle for what they have instead of risking it all to gain more.
Tuesday’s thrilling throw-down on the sun-seared flanks of Mont Ventoux revealed that Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike will not settle for second place in the 2025 Tour.
“We have nothing to lose. Jonas doesn’t care if he loses more time or if he loses a place on the GC,” Visma’s Sepp Kuss told Velo. “In the end we just want to have fun racing and go for it, and think outside the box when it’s possible.
“The most important thing is that Jonas feels good and we can do a lot of interesting things.”
The Colorado climber helped lead the “Killer Bees” tactical play that eventually isolated UAE Emirates-XRG Pogačar and opened him up to a string of searing attacks from Vingegaard.
Vingegaard didn’t gap Pogačar in the sizzler of a stage — in fact he lost a few more seconds — but the unrelenting pressure confirmed the team will die by the sword to try to win the yellow jersey.
Niermann: ‘Hope or not, we will go for it’
Vingegaard took it to Pogačar on Mont Ventoux. (Photo: Gruber Images)
No one was high-fiving around the Visma bus, but there was an enthusiastic vibe after Vingegaard took it straight to Pogačar.
There were a few moments when it looked like Vingegaard might have pulled clear if it wasn’t for headwinds on the upper flanks of the Giant of Provence.
Pogačar countered once, and Vingegaard could cover the move, but the Dane lost a few seconds when the Slovenian accelerated out of the final corner.
⏱️ IT HAPPENED! TADEJ POGACAR AND JONAS VINGEGAARD HAVE SET TODAY A NEW CLIMBING RECORD ON MONT VENTOUX: 54 MIN 30 SEC, 1:20 FASTER THAN IBAN MAYO! Holy Mother of God, they absolutely smashed it.#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/YXlgKQwz3j
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) July 22, 2025
“We are only satisfied when we win or take time on the yellow jersey,” Visma sport manager Grischa Niermann said. “We look to ourselves and the boys rode a fantastic race.”
The strong tactic comes despite criticism across this Tour that Visma was pulling too much and inadvertently taking the pressure off Pogačar’s UAE team.
And instead of just hoping that Pogačar has a bad day or makes a mistake, Visma vows to keep piling it on.
“This gives us hope, but hope or not, we will go for it,” Niermann told Velo.
Kuss: ‘We won’t want to end with regrets’
Kuss looked sharp on Mont Ventoux and applied pressure. (Photo: BERNARD PAPON/AFP via Getty Images)
Kuss said Tuesday that Mont Ventoux is just a preview of what the team hopes to do in the Alps to close out this Tour.
“We don’t know where we will attack, but it’s with a mindset that there’s nothing to lose,” Kuss said. “That makes it motivating for the rest of us to give it everything. We don’t want to end the Tour with any regrets.”
Two big mountain stages remain.
First up is Col de la Loze on Thursday, where Vingegaard cracked Pogačar to secure the 2023 yellow jersey. Then the Alps close out Friday with the short, 130km stage ending atop La Plagne packed with 4,500m of vertical.
Kuss stepped out of the Visma-Lease a Bike team sounding confident, upbeat, and ready to keep this Tour de France rolling.
Kuss was a key piece of Visma’s near-perfect tactical display Tuesday that jolted the Tour back to life to start the third and final decisive week of the brutal tug-of-war between Vingegaard and Pogačar.
“I tried to set a good pace on the bottom on the steep part and do some damage there,” Kuss told Velo. “Jonas tried a few times to get some separation, but when you get on that upper part with that wind it’s more difficult.”
Rather than racing for second, Vingegaard is willing to risk everything to try to crack Pogačar.
Few riders are willing to do that.