Pogacar links Vingegaard's Tour crash to 2am anti-doping control: 'Maybe this is a reason'

Vingegaard suffered a suspected broken collarbone in the crash, which took place with a shade over 20km remaining to the finish atop Plateau de Solaison. The Dane, who had been lying second overall, was taken away by ambulance after abandoning the race.

Speaking to France Télévisions after the finish of stage 15, Pogačar expressed regret at the exit of his longstanding rival. Vingegaard beat Pogačar to the Tour in 2022 and 2023, and he placed second to the Slovenian in 2021, 2024 and 2025.

“With Jonas we go back a long time in the Tour. Since 2021 we are battling together, we have always had ups and downs, and today it’s really sad to see him leave the Tour,” Pogačar said. “I hope he can be back quickly for the next races, and he can come back stronger for the next Tour.”

Pogačar himself faced a 5am anti-doping control on Sunday morning following a visit from International Testing Agency (ITA) inspectors. While he downplayed the impact of the nighttime test on his performance, he questioned whether Vingegaard had been affected by his disrupted night’s sleep.

“That’s also the thing. Me, I had a control at 5am in the morning, but I’m not complaining, my deep sleep was over, I was in the end of the sleep,” Pogačar said. “But Jonas did his control at 3 in the morning. You never know, maybe this was the consequence of one bad sleep, this one moment of bad concentration, because the only time we can recover in the Tour is when we sleep. I feel really bad for him that he had the control at 2am in the morning.”

Pogačar revisited the theory during his flash interview for the international feed shortly afterwards, after first paying tribute to the departed Vingegaard.

“It’s really, really sad to see that Jonas is out, because since 2021, we were always battling out for the victory,” Pogačar said. “Maybe at the beginning we didn’t have the best relationship, but in the last two years, we became good rivals, good, respected rivals and competitors, but I also think kind of friends. And yeah, the Tour will not be the same without him. 

“It got me thinking just before in interview for France TV. Today we had doping control, and he had it at two in the morning. That got me thinking, maybe this is also a reason. When one night your sleep is ruined, maybe you are a little bit less concentrated in the descent, and his Tour is ruined. Maybe this... I don’t blame that, but it could be also a little bit connected. It’s just really sad to see him leave.”

In Vingegaard’s absence, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is now up to second overall after he outsprinted Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate to victory atop Plateau de Solaison.

Pogačar attempted to tee up Del Toro for stage victory in the finale, and he suggested that the Mexican champion had been hindered by coming down in the same crash as Vingegaard in the finale.

“We tried with Isaac, it’s his climb, but he also had a little bit of pain, I think, from the crash and he lost e he a little bit of confidence for the final,” Pogačar said. “But anyway, I think it was a good day for Isaac today and I think he’s in the white jersey now, so he’s good in the GC.”

Pogačar reaches the Tour’s second rest day with a lead of exactly five minutes over Evenepoel, while Del Toro is third at 5:58.

“I think Solaison is like a 30-minute climb, and today I think we did one of the best numbers,” Pogačar said. “I think Remco sometimes just needs a little bit of a moral boost and he’s flying. Today he showed that he’s a rocket and he’s going to be a pain in the ass next week also.”