In the Massif Central, cycling superstars Pogacar and Vingegaard engage in a thrilling duel. The Slovenian loses the stage – and is full of praise for his competitor.
After overall leader Tadej Pogacar’s narrow defeat to defending champion Jonas Vingegaard in the 111th Tour de France, the Slovenian was full of praise for his competitor. “He is in great shape. If you ask me, he is in the best shape of his career,” said the 25-year-old wearer of the yellow jersey.
Pogacar and Vingegaard had a passionate exchange of blows on the difficult Massif Central stage on Wednesday. The Dane came back after an attack and won the eleventh stage with a razor-thin lead.
Pogacar: He deserved the win
“He deserved the win,” praised Pogacar: “If I had watched it as a fan on TV, it would have been one of the best stages of all time for me.”
In the overall ranking, Pogacar is 1:06 minutes ahead of Belgian Remco Evenepoel, 1:14 minutes ahead of Vingegaard and 2:15 minutes ahead of Primoz Roglic. Due to the disadvantages of time trial world champion Evenepoel on the climbs so far and the time lost by Roglic, the four-way battle could turn into a two-way battle after the demanding mountain stages in the Pyrenees at the weekend.
Politt: “It will definitely annoy Tadej”
“Hats off to Vingegaard for closing it down again,” said Pogacar’s German assistant Nils Politt, praising the 27-year-old’s counterattack. “I think it’s a one-on-one battle now,” said the 30-year-old, adding: “Tadej will definitely be annoyed by that.” According to Politt, the team captain had “imagined it to be a bit easier.” It will be a tough battle until the final in Nice.
In the past two years, Vingegaard has won this battle and won the Tour. Both exceptional riders respect each other. Nevertheless, two-time Tour winner Pogacar was recently annoyed by his opponent’s defensive riding style. Vingegaard explained the style with tactical reasons. “I’m the kind of guy too – if someone doesn’t ride with me, I’d be annoyed too. We always say: rear wheel sucker,” said Politt with a grin.
Source: Stern
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