Vingegaard battles on the Tour

Just three months ago, Jonas Vingegaard was lying in a hospital bed with several fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. Yesterday he outsprinted Tadej Pogacar in a two-man sprint after a brutal Stage 11 in the mountains.

Slovenian Pogacar kept the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, but it was two-time defending champion Vingegaard who claimed a psychological victory after a tough battle that ended in a stalemate in the mountains of the Massif Central.

The duo left their rivals behind and Vingegaard, who closed the huge gap to Pogacar on the brutal climb, was faster than his rival in the sprint to finish half a wheel ahead and win the stage.

“Of course it’s very emotional for me. Coming back after that crash,” said Vingegaard, trying not to cry. “It means a lot to me. Everything I went through in the last three months, it makes you think about that.”

Vingegaard was hospitalised for almost two weeks in April after a high-speed crash at the Tour de Pays Basque. He returned to racing for the Tour with many doubts about his fitness. His great stage yesterday showed that he is ready to defend his title.

“I’m happy to be here and it means a lot to win the stage, especially to win with my family. They supported me all the way through,” said Vingegaard.

True to his habit of attacking at every opportunity, Pogacar tried to get ahead with 32 kilometres to go. After he fell behind, Vingegaard kept his cool and proved to be faster on the next climb to catch up with his rival.

The duo remained neck and neck until the end to gain time on Remoc Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic. Evenepoel finished 25 seconds behind and Roglic 55 seconds behind the top two places, according to preliminary results.

Evenepoel remains 1:06 behind Pogacar and Vingegaard cut the gap to 1:14 in third place.— AP

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