Although it stands in the shadow of the Alps and the Pyrenees, the Massif Central in the heart of France has often been the scene of very special moments in the Tour de France. This was also the case in the eleventh stage, which ended following 211 kilometers between Evaux-les-Bains and the ski resort in Le Lioran with the victory of the Dane Jonas Vingegaard. The first to congratulate him was his great rival Tadej Pogacar, who lost out to him in the sprint to the finish by one bike length. The Slovenian extended his lead in the overall classification over the third-placed Remco Evenepoel to 1:06 minutes, with Vingegaard following in third place, 1:14 minutes behind.
“It means a lot to me. Two months ago I would never have believed that I would be able to do something like this. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my family,” Vingegaard gushed, fighting back tears. Memories of the hard times came flooding back. After the serious fall in the Tour of the Basque Country in the spring, he briefly had to fear for his life. But the Tour winner of the last two years picked himself up sooner than expected and was back at the start of his favorite race to take on Pogacar.
The two champions have dominated the Tour de France for the past four years with their duel for yellow. On Wednesday, Vingegaard, who came to the Tour without any racing experience, may have found new hope because in the first week and a half everything had actually gone well for Pogacar.
After his UAE team kept up the pace all day, he wanted to bring regarding the decision with one of his typical explosive attacks on the Pas de Peyrol a good 30 kilometers from the finish – which he initially succeeded in doing. But on the Col de Pertus, the penultimate mountain, the Visma captain closed the gap of around 30 seconds with a persistent pace and cheered on by his sports director, ex-professional Grischa Niermann. The duo ultimately fought it out for victory – with the better end for Vingegaard, who then also put up a fighting spirit: “The Tour is far from over.”
As a consolation, Pogacar was left with the mountain jersey, which he was able to take from Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X). Fourth-placed Primoz Roglic crashed in the last descent while chasing Evenepoel, but escaped with only minor abrasions and was classified at the same time as the Belgian.
Felix Gall was unable to keep up with the pace of the very best. The East Tyrolean reached the finish line in tenth place, 2:38 minutes behind, and is now 13th, 9:18 minutes behind Pogacar. However, there are still five riders ahead of him who are assigned to help out in their racing teams.
On Thursday and Friday, sprinters and breakaway riders will be in action, before the race continues at the weekend with two mountain finishes.
- Tour de France: 11th stage (Evaux-les-Bains–Le Lioran, 211 km): 1. Vingegaard (Den) Visma 4:58:00 Std., 2. Pogacar (Slo) UAE gl. Time, 3. Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal +25 Sec.; 10. Gall (Ö) Decathlon +2:38 Min.; In total: 1. Pogacar 45:00:34 hrs., 2. Evenepoel +1:06 mins., 3. Vingegaard +1:14; 13. Gall +9:18; 90. Mühlberger (Ö) Movistar +1:39:06 hrs.
ePaper
Dominik Feischl
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