'I had to do my own pace' – Vingegaard slips further behind peerless Pogacar

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) remained upbeat following a difficult stage 10 of the Tour de France to Le Lioran on Bastille Day, where his deficit to Tadej Pogačar in the overall standings extended. 

It was a fascinating affair in the blazing heat, with much of the intrigue initially centring around the teammates of the two standout leaders, Pogačar and Vingegaard. 

On the Puy Mary, Vingegaard found himself with only Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike) remaining for support after the rest of his teammates were distanced thanks to the pace set by UAE Team Emirates-XRG and notably Adam Yates.

However, the tables turned on the penultimate climb, the Col de Pertus, when Yates swung off midway up the climb, and Piganzoli took the initiative at the front for Vingegaard and Visma. 

Piganzoli set the tempo in the ever-reducing GC group before Pogačar launched a sledgehammer attack inside the final kilometre of the climb, with nobody able to respond.

Speaking to the media at the finish, Vingegaard explained that there was nothing he could do to match the devastating power of the world champion, and thus had to concentrate on his own efforts.

“Yeah, I mean, when he went, I realised I had to do just my own pace, and from there, I was thinking it's going to be a time trial for me to finish,” said Vingegaard.

The Dane had company in the form of Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), as well as Paul Seixas, while Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was noticeably distanced. 

The group contained Pogačar's advantage to around 20 seconds by the climb's crest, but with still over 10km of the stage remaining and another category three ascent remaining, the gap continued to stretch over the closing kilometres.

In the end, Pogačar romped his way to victory in Le Lioran to claim a hat-trick of emphatic stage victories. Behind, Vingegaard faded in the final dash to the line from the chasing group, ending seventh, 44 seconds behind Pogačar, and 12 seconds behind Evenepoel in second. 

“Luckily for me, I could get a bit of help on the last climb, and yeah, I think it's an okay day for us. It could be a lot worse for sure,” added Vingegaard.

In terms of the overall standings, Pogačar has extended his lead to 3:36 over Vingegaard, with Evenepoel 30 seconds behind the Dane in third.

Although he was unable to replicate his Le Lioran triumph from 2024, and despite Pogačar's seemingly infallible form, Vingegaard remained upbeat and still believes he can make his mark on the race once the high mountains arrive.

“I think my legs are getting better and better, and I'm looking forward to the longer climbs, and yeah, hopefully we can have some good weeks."