Jumbo captain Vingegaard flew to the time trial triumph

What a show of force. Jonas Vingegaard, captain of the Jumbo Visma team and Man in Yellow in the Tour de France, took what could be a decisive step towards defending his title in the time trial on the 16th stage on Tuesday. The Dane took a full 1:38 minutes from his equal rival Tadej Pogacar as the winner, after it had previously been a thriller of a few seconds. Vingegaard is now 1:48 minutes ahead of today’s queen stage. East Tyrolean Felix Gall made it back into the top ten with a strong performance.

“I surprised myself”

As expected, the Cote de Domancy became the key point at the end. While Pogacar decided to switch from the time trial bike to the lighter mountain bike, Vingegaard stayed on his custom-made bike. With a fluid kick, the Dane continued to extend his lead over the Slovenians, who had started two minutes before him. “Get the tour,” radioed his German sports director Grischa Niermann in his ear. “It was the best time trial of my career. I surprised myself,” said Vingegaard.

King’s stage over four Alpine passes

But the day is far from over on this tour. The king’s stage with four Alpine passes awaits on Wednesday. Above all, the almost endless Col de la Loze towers up in front of the peloton. It’s almost 30 kilometers uphill to 2304 meters with an incline of up to 24 percent. After that, a risky descent and the steep climb to the airfield await you before you reach the stage destination in Courchevel. And everyone is warned about Saturday. The Vosges section with 3600 meters of altitude and six climbs is considered extremely treacherous.

“Ready for Battle”

All of this should also lie more to Gall. On Tuesday in the time trial, not necessarily his chocolate discipline, but he also kept up really well because of the more than 600 meters in altitude. On Vingegaard he lost 3:40 minutes, but thanks to the 13th best time he overtook his direct competitor Guillaume Martin (Fra) and is now tenth. “I can be more than satisfied with that. I now feel ready for the big battle.”

110th Tour de France: Stage 16, Passy–Combloux (22.4km/individual time trial): 1st Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo 32:36 mins, 2nd Pogacar (Slo) UAE +1:38 mins, 3rd van Aert (Bel) jumbo +2:51; further: 13. Gall (AUT) AG2R +3:40; 54. Mühlberger (Austria) Movistar +5:54; 57. Großschartner (Austria) UAE +5:59; 72. Gogl (Austria) Alpecin +6:24; 116. Konrad (A) Bora +7:05; 119. Haller (A) Bora +7:14; Overall standings: 1st Vingegaard 63:06:53 hrs, 2nd Pogacar +1:48 mins, 3rd A. Yates (GB) UAE +8:52; 10. Gall +18:19; 24. Grossschartner +1:20:09 hrs; 47. Mühlberger +2:20:08.