'We'll have to come up with a new plan' - Visma blown away by Pogacar

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) was dealt a significant blow in his bid to win a third Tour de France. The Dane was primed in the wheel of Tadej Pogačar when the World Champion's teammate Jhonatan Narváez set a scintillating pace at the bottom of the Hautacam. However, when Pogačar launched his attack like a rocket, Vingegaard was simply unable to respond. 

The gap was an initial ten seconds, but gradually increased throughout the remaining slopes of the Hautacam and by the finish, the difference between the Slovenian and Dane was a damning 2:10 in favour of Pogačar. After the first summit finish of the 2025 Tour, Vingegaard trails his eternal rival by a significant 3:31. 

Visma | Lease a Bike's head of racing, Grischa Niermann, admitted that his rider was simply beaten by a stronger opponent in Tadej Pogačar. 

“Yeah, I think Jonas was feeling well, but on the last climb, of course, Pogačar was clearly the best, and in the end, he also suffered a lot," Niemann said to TNT Sports at the finish line. 

"So I haven't spoken to the riders yet, but it was a very hard day, and in the end, the best rider won.”

Niermann was asked if this was a bad day for Vingegaard, to which he responded, " I don't know? Once again, I haven’t spoken to him, I think it was, for sure, not his best day. But yeah, he's still, he's still the best of the rest. But congrats to Tadej, to UAE, they showed who is the strongest rider here.”

The Dutch team's tactics had to be adapted when Vingegaard's key American lieutenant, Matteo Jorgenson, was visibly struggling throughout the stage and was distanced earlier than he would have hoped or even expected. 

"Yeah, Matteo was not on a good day. I mean, we cannot look into the riders. We had a plan, and then all sudden, Matteo dropped. So that was, of course, not according to what we wanted," explained Niermann. 

Jorgenson, who finished 15th on the stage, 10:25 behind Pogačar, also spoke to reporters, including Daniel Benson and Sporza, at the end of the stage, naturally dissatisfied with the outcome after a swelteringly hot day in the saddle.

"For me not good. I have no excuses really. I was on a bad day from the start and just had really bad sensations," Jorgenson explained to Benson.

According to the American, the initial game plan for Visma | Lease a Bike "was to get a guy in the break as a satelitte rider, hopefully get one of us across to them," however, as Jorgenson remarked, "none of that worked out."

Speaking to Sporza, Jorgenson said, "On the last climb, I was completely exhausted. Then I thought it was better to forget about the GC. I couldn't be of any use to Jonas anymore."

Like Niermann, the American was unsure whether his team leader had a good or bad day, but had no doubts that Pogačar was simply operating on a different level on the slopes of the Hautacam climb.

"I didn't talk to Jonas much, so I don't know if he had a good day. Tadej was just stronger. Congratulations to them," Jorgenson said. "I don't know the time differences yet. We'll have to come up with a new plan."

Stage 13 on Friday is a 10.9 kilometre individual mountain time trial to the top of Peyragudes and Niermann expressed his team's commitment to keep on fighting despite a significant difference in the standings between Pogačar and Vingegaard

"But tomorrow's a new day, and then we will keep fighting. But, yeah, in the GC, there's of course now a big gap," said Niermann.