When Tadej Pogacar slipped behind Jonas Vinzigor on the Col de la Roz pass through the Alps on Wednesday, eight kilometers from the top of the hot and grueling climb, it was only momentarily clear why. Pogacar’s own voice, broadcast over team radio and television during the 17th stage of the Tour de France, provided an immediate account of the rare sight of him being left like a mere mortal.
“I’m gone,” he told the team. “I’m dead.”
It was a television marvel, a moment that would be recreated on every broadcast of the tour for decades.
Few of Pogacar’s teammates were waiting for him. They didn’t help him. what was the point? He could not save his race. Pogacar, a 24-year-old from Slovenia, always had a smile on his face, never minded, rode his bike with a lock of his hair peeking out from his helmet, then disappeared.
Vinzigard quickly shrugged him off and took his second consecutive tour win.
The Tour ended on Sunday with a spectacular aerial view of the Eiffel Tower, eight grueling laps on the cobbled streets of central Paris, and a final sprint down the Champs-Elysées. Vanzigor, who beat Pogacar by 7 minutes and 29 seconds, sipped champagne surrounded by his Jumbo-Vizma teammates and took it easy in the leader’s yellow jersey.
As with any three-week race, there were some notable stories. Jasper Phillipsen has proven he is the best sprinter in the world with four stage victories. Thibaut Pinot survived the final Tour de France with typical bravery and pomp, while Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish ended their glorious careers with a cry instead of a show. Hopefuls crashed, but the breakaway was surprisingly successful.
Pogacar’s teammate Adam Yates finished a distant third, but the Tour was a battle between Pogacar and Vinzigard from start to finish. The decisive 17th stage and the gap between the two – the biggest difference in the Tour since 2014 – made it hard to believe what had been one of the most intense and exciting races in years.
The Tour has progressed at an unprecedented pace since it opened in Bilbao, Spain, three weeks ago. Instead of a pile of mostly decisive mountain stages in the final week of the race, it was dotted with rugged, punchy climbs and hard climbs with interesting elements.
It was a trade-off between Vinzigard and Pogacar, and the heavyweight (who looks like a featherweight on a bike) thumped.
Vanzigor scored first in stage 5 of the Col de Marie Blanc in the Pyrenees. Fringe contender Jay Hindley, who ultimately finished seventh, pulled away to win the stage and wear the yellow jersey for the day. At the steepest part of the climb, Vinjgaard pulled away from Pogacar and over a minute ahead of his rival.
Questions have been raised as to whether the race was already decided for Pogacar, despite his Tour-winning pedigree in 2020 and 2021. Pogacar broke his wrist in late April after a glorious spring season winning two stage races and three prestigious one-day classics, but was still not fully healed when the Tour began. If Pogacar can’t stay with Vanzigor in the early races of the Pyrenees, how will he fare in the Alps?
The next day, Pogacar gave an answer. Vinzigor attempted to attack twice and dropped the field, but Pogacar was nailed to the handle. Three kilometers into the end of the stage, Pogacar flipped the script with a surprising counter-punch as fans fired smoke canisters beside him, winning the stage 24 seconds behind.
“If something like yesterday happened, I’d just pack my bags and go home,” Pogacar recalled of his thoughts during the Vinzigard attack. “Fortunately, my legs were good today.”
Slowly but surely, Pogacar chipped away at Vinzigard’s advantage. On the ninth stage, which climbs the famous Puy de Dome volcano, he regained eight seconds. Four stages later, he pulled back another eight seconds at the summit finish on the Grand Colombier. Twice he launched a devastating sprint near the end of the stage, but twice Vinzigard was unable to keep up with him.
Only in retrospect, after knowing the full results, could I see these stages in a different light. The Vinjgaard has traditionally been stronger than the Pogacar on long mountain climbs, able to chip away, but the Pogacar is a more explosive rider who pulls away with unfollowable bursts. But while Pogacar bought time against Vinzigard over three stages, he couldn’t bury him. Vinzigard lost a few seconds, but didn’t turn the loss into a rout.
The quiet 26-year-old from Denmark later showed his dominant form for the first time in the race’s only individual time trial, the day before he crushed Pogacar on the Rose Pass. Pogacar, who started the time trial second to last, was over a minute faster than the rest of the field. he had a good day But Vingigard had a great day.
Vinzigard, who started last, ran to the limit, took perfect lines at incredible speed on the downhill part of the course, and showed his climbing skills on the climb finish despite being on a heavier time trial bike. In the end, he shaved off nearly two minutes on Pogacar. He was so fast that I thought his equipment was broken.
“I think it was one of the best days I’ve ever been on a bike,” Vinzigard said after the stage.
The next day Pogacar will die according to his own words. Over the course of two weeks, Vinzigard’s Jumbo Visma team set a relentless pace, not necessarily to win stages or buy time for Vinzigard, but rather to deplete Pogacar’s energy and put pressure on his recovering wrists, leaving Pogacar exhausted by the time the race reached the Alps, Vinzigard’s territory.
During the long, hot stage, the food Pogacar ate stuck in his stomach and didn’t reach his feet, he later said. The Vinegard never attacked. It didn’t need to.Pogacar was unable to follow him to the Rose Pass, and as soon as Yumbo Vizma saw this, Vanzigor’s Domestic He picked up the pace to ensure Pogacar was further behind. he never stabilized. Rather, he seemed to fall off the mountain with every second he pedaled.
On Saturday’s penultimate stage of the 20th, Pogacar made no attempt to attack Vanzigor at the beginning of the Col du Platzervazel pass. It would have meant nothing. He had no intention of taking back time. Instead, they climbed the mountain together and outlasted each other, with Pogacar winning the stage with a sprint up Vingigoal. Although this was the final prize, it was just a consolation.
Vanzigor and Pogacar have teamed up to win the last four Tours, but neither of them have reached the peak age for cyclists. “It’s been a great game since the Bilbao game and hopefully in the future,” Vinzigor said after the victory was certain.
My only regret is that there won’t be another episode of this fight for another year.
