'We hoped for better' - Vingegaard suffers heavy blow in Tour de France TT
He might only have lost one place on the general classification but Jonas Vingegaard has conceded crucial time in the GC battle.
Jonas Vingegaard might have had hopes of taking the yellow jersey after Wednesday’s Tour de France time trial, instead he and his Visma | Lease a Bike team were left rueing a jour sans.
The Dane began the 33km test just eight seconds off Mathieu van der Poel's overall race lead, and, on recent form, was arguably the favourite to move into the yellow jersey. Perhaps the biggest risk was from eventual stage winner, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep).
Instead, the day played out worse than could have been imagined for Vingegaard. He was soundly beaten, finishing unlucky 13th, 1:21 behind Evenepoel.
Rather than taking yellow, Vingegaard’s unexpectedly poor performance saw him slip to fourth overall, 1:13 behind new leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Tean Emirates-XRG), who finished a fine second on the stage. The result leaves Vingegaard with more than a mountain to climb when the race reaches the Pyrenees next week.
“We didn’t expect to lose that much, but it happened and we have to go from here and we will fight again tomorrow,” said Grischa Niermann, head of racing at Visma | Lease a Bike.
While Edoardo Affini finished third, it was a poor day for the team’s GC ambitions, with Vingegaard’s key support rider, Matteo Jorgenson also losing time. Though he managed to finish ahead of the Dane, he too has dropped time in the GC, sitting one place and nine seconds behind his teammate.
Niermann dismissed any suggestion the increasing wind speed later in the afternoon had somehow disadvantaged his riders.
“That also counted for Remco and it also counted for Tadej, so that’s not the excuse for a lesser time trial. Of course beforehand we knew Remco was the favourite and he won, rightfully so, but certainly with Jonas and with Matteo we hope for a better time.”
It’s not the first time the team has lost crucial time in Tour de France time trials. In 2020 Primož Roglič seemed secure in the yellow jersey before the final mountain time trial to La Planche des Belles Filles, but he memorably capitulated, losing almost two minutes, and the yellow jersey, to Pogačar.
For now the team will be licking their wounds before planning their strategy for revenge, but such a shocking loss is likely to dent confidence and almost certain to dampen spirits.
