Jonas Vingegaard's stubbornness shows rivalry has taken its toll

Times

4 days ago

What do you imagine was going through Jonas Vingegaard's head as he climbed the final mountain in this year's Tour de France? He may well have been thinking that if it were not for the rider directly in front of him, he would now be on his way to a fifth ­consecutive Tour victory. But Tadej ­Pogacar has always been there, this giant who has beaten Vingegaard down time and time again. The wonder is he keeps getting back up.
Vingegaard knows the narrative. On a stage reduced by 30 kilometres because of a cattle disease, Pogacar ­decided he wanted to win the 19th leg. From the moment they left Albertville, Pogacar's UAE foot soldiers went to the front of the peloton and rode at a tempo that ensures breakaways cannot get much of a lead.
UAE's attentiveness tells every rider that the boss has decided. He is going to win at La Plagne. He has won only four stages so far, two less than last year, and time is running out. More than four minutes down on general ­classification (GC), Vingegaard knows this is a deficit he cannot overturn but damn it, he is not feeling any ­enthusiasm for another slapping down. Why should he?
There's been too many. Laval, Saint Lary Soulan, Luz Ardiden in 2021; La Planche des Belles Filles and Peyragudes in 2022; Cauterets and Le Markstein in 2023; Saint Lary Soulan, Plateau de Belle, Isola 2000, Col e la Couillole and Nice in 2024, Mur de Bretagne, Hautacam and Peyragues in this race. Fifteen in all, these are the Tour stages in which Pogacar has been first, Vingegaard second. Only three times has the result been the other way round.
This year, the rivalry has not seemed real. At least not as wondrously ­balanced as previously. Not to us on the roadside, not to Vingegaard and not to Pogacar himself. Inside the UAE team they have observed the shift. Pogacar does not speak as much about ­Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike team as he once did, does not worry about what they are doing in this stage or that stage.
Vingegaard senses this and though he would never say so, it stings. It is not that he does not admire the efficiency of the UAE team, the business-like way they reeled in Primoz Roglic who had initiated an early breakaway and, well down on GC, might have expected some latitude from his Slovenian compatriot. As Tim Wellens led the UAE boys up to and then past Roglic, he flicked his right hand in a way that made it seem he was apologising or, at least, saying it was nothing personal.
It has been an unrelentingly tough race. Everyone is weary, ready for Paris and the weather turning cooler and rainy has not helped. When they got onto the early slopes of La Plagne, ­Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez ­increased the tempo and thinned out the lead group. Ben O'Connor, Lenny Martinez, Victor Campenaerts and ­Adam Yates were dropped.
Like a fighter being gloved up, ­Vingegaard removed his rain jacket. He was not doing this so that he can be slapped down again by Pogacar. Here, he had a plan. The speed at which ­Wellens and Narvaez attacked was ­suicidal. Soon they both dropped away. So did Vingegaard's team-mate, Simon Yates.
There are important battles to be fought on this climb. Florian Lipowitz, the German in the Red Bull- Bora-Hangrohe team, has his eyes fixed on Oscar Onley who is directly in front of them. They have both ridden exceptionally for 18 days but the ­22-second advantage is with Lipowitz who knows he could not let the Scot out of his sight. Otherwise he would lose his place on the third step of the podium.
Felix Gall is also in this select group, knowing that if he and his Decathlon team-mates Aurelien Paret-Peintre and Callum Scotson ride hard, they can make sure Gall stays sixth overall. All this is irrelevant to Vingegaard, who has figured a way to give himself a chance of beating Pogacar. Seven ­kilometres from the summit, Pogacar attacked. Vingegaard knew this was coming and was onto it, straightaway. Onley went with this acceleration. ­Pogacar was not surprised that Vingegaard was there but was not pleased that his rival just wanted to sit on his wheel. So he slowed. They all slowed. Lipowitz soon caught up and before the end of the stage, forged ahead of the excellent ­Onley to secure his third-place finish in the overall standings. Onley should finish fourth, which is an outstanding effort from a 22-year-old.
On La Plagne the rider keenest to attack was the Dutch rider with the Ineos Grenadiers, Thymen Arensman. ­Pogacar countered, Vingegaard ­followed. They rejoined Arensman and then they all slowed. Arensman tried again, Pogacar made the effort to close him down. Vingegaard follows. His refusal to contribute to the pace-setting irked Pogacar.
Arensman sensed the bad vibe and went again. This time Pogacar sat still. Vingegaard is stubborn. If he pulls at the front, Pogacar will probably beat him again. He can take anything but that. Arensman's lead was 25 seconds. Only three kilometres left. Pogacar rode at the front but there was an ­insouciance in the way he pedalled: if we catch Arensman, fine; if we don't, that's alright too.
Pogacar can be the most stubborn man. Vingegaard, though, may be even more stubborn. So he did not move from Pogacar's back wheel. Arensman was 100m ahead of them, one acceleration from Pogacar was all it would take.
Pogacar thought that winning this did not matter that much. After the way Vingegaard rode, he preferred Arensman to win. And Vingegaard kept thinking ­Pogacar would close down Arensman and they would fight it out. Like they always do. But Vingegaard got it wrong. Arensman held by two seconds as Vingegaard outsprinted his great rival to take second place. This is the worst, most useless second place of his career. After they cross the finish line, ­Vingegaard congratulated Pogacar on a Tour victory that should be ­confirmed on Sunday evening in Paris.
Someone asked Pogacar if he was tired or a little bored coming to the end of this three-week race. 'Oh I'm ­obviously tired,' he said. 'Also, it's not been easy — people attacking me from left and right from day one to the end.
'The priority is the Yellow Jersey. So yeah, I was counting down the kilometers because, yeah, I was going with my pace and hoping that nobody will attack from behind and that's it.'
In the end, victory went to the right man. Arensman attacked and attacked again. He and Pogacar go back a long way.
'I think the first time I really met ­Tadej or saw Tadej was Tour de l'Avenir in 2018, where we were first and second on GC,' he said. 'And then I already saw he's a really special bike rider, a really big talent. At that moment, I was the first-year U23 or second-year U23, but I didn't really expect that he would be this good. But it was really nice to, as 18 and 19-year-olds in the Tour de l'Avenir, and now here in the Tour de France.'
On the torturous ride to La Plagne, Vingegaard had a chance to get a rare victory over his great rival. He just was not prepared to seize it. That is what five years of competing with this guy does to a man.