Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) beat Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in a two-man uphill sprint to claim stage 11 in Le Lioran on Wednesday. Other GC rivals, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), finished third and fourth at 25 seconds.
Vingegaard was emotional about bis victory, referencing his crash in March and the long road to recovery: “I have been through so much in recent months. I’m just happy to be here. It means so much to win a stage and to win it for my family. They have supported me the whole time. I couldn’t follow the attack he had. I just had to fight and actually I didn’t think that I could make it back but I kept fighting and started relaying with him, and then I beat him in the sprint.”
Richard Plugge, team manager of Visma-Lease a Bike, was more than pleased to see his superstar rider back on top. “He (Vingegaard) is so tough, as you saw today. He is an incredible hero. This is our first stage win and we are also taking seconds back. In the end it is about who is in yellow in Nice, but this is a huge boost.”
Pogačar didn’t appear ruffled by his loss. “It was a very good day. Our team did very well. I felt good on the first hard climb, so I attacked. But Jonas came back strong on the next climb, after which we went to the finish together. We can now really speak of a fair fight. Jonas is in top form. He also beat me strongly in the sprint. It is a good day for Vingegaard, but also for me. I do not think I lost a mental battle here. Okay, he won the sprint, but I think we are evenly matched. In the Pyrenees there will be different climbs and I am more prepared for that work.”
Remco Evenepoel was satisfied with his ride, except for the way he descended. “I thought I was doing pretty well on the descents, but the other guys were even faster. It was just a good stage today. Maybe I didn’t have the best feeling, then I would have tried to react to the attack, but it was just good. I took time on a lot of guys again. Tadej’s attack was very aggressive. At that moment, Yates also made a strong breakaway. It wasn’t even a question of trying, I chose my own pace. I then came back to Primož, who completely exploded. We tried to come back, but we just didn’t succeed. Roglič also fell, but in the end it was a good ride.”
RESULTS
Stage 11: Évaux-les-Bains > Le Lioran (211km)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
