The first attack came. Then the second. Then the third. Jonas Vingegaard, somehow, somewhere, still believes. He has not once cracked Tadej Pogačar in this Tour de France. He has had his own terrible day on the Hautacam. He is down – by four minutes on the general classification to be precise – but the Visma-Lease a Bike rider is not out. Where does the motivation come from? It might be hard to understand for us mere mortals, but this is why Vingegaard is twice a Tour winner and one of the best bike racers on the planet. He keeps pushing when most others would stop. He keeps dreaming when hope seems lost. He believes in himself when his rival, resplendent in the yellow jersey, looks utterly untouchable.
“Jonas fired the boys up towards Ventoux,” Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Marc Reef said after the stage, explaining why the Dutch squad were so motivated to try and challenge Pogačar on the slopes of the fabled climb. “He did a really strong attack, Tiesj [Benoot] was ready, then Victor [Campenaerts], and then he kept on going. That's the only way to still try to create a situation where we take some time back. We want to fight for every chance that's still there.”
Image: Bernard Papon/Pool/Getty Images
Visma should be applauded for their perfectly-executed race strategy on stage 16 of the Tour. It was a textbook use of satellite riders – the likes of Benoot and Campenaerts snuck into the breakaway of the day and once they were caught by a charging general classification group, they were ready to pace on the climb for their team leader. Vingegaard attacked to reach Benoot, then Benoot paced. Vingegaard then attacked to reach Campenaerts, and Campenaerts paced. The Dane then went again. To any race analyst or strategist, it was the most satisfying piece of game play seen in the Tour de France so far.
“We wanted to put pressure on Pogačar of course. It was good that we had two guys in the break so then it was my turn once Simon [Yates] and Sepp [Kuss] were done. After I was done, Victor was straight there. We had our best day, and we knew with the headwind that it was a big advantage to have a teammate, and we succeeded in the plans,” Benoot said after the race. “Jonas looked really good, I was impressed that he could still accelerate after I had done my turn. It's crazy how fast they go.”
The result of Visma’s strategy and the repeated attacks from Vingegaard and Pogačar was one of the most impressive climbing performances in the Tour de France’s history on Mont Ventoux: a new record of 54 minutes and 30 seconds, over one minute faster than Iban Mayo, the previous record holder. It’s a promising sign for the Danish rider that his form is back to his best.
Image: A.S.O
“I was happy with feeling today and happy with the attacks I tried to do. I didn't gain any time today but I take a lot of motivation from today,” Vingegaard said at the finish line, just a few moments after crossing the summit of Ventoux.
“We wanted to have someone in the break and the team did really amazing today, everyone worked with everything they had, committed and everyone did super great. Pogačar followed me every time I attacked and I followed him when he attacked, so I don’t know if I could see any weaknesses today but it gives me some motivation, how good I felt today. As I said before, I will keep trying.”
Vingegaard, as he points out, saw no weaknesses from Pogačar, despite how hard he and his team had tried to turn the dial. There is no reason to really believe that he is any closer to winning this Tour de France than he was before yesterday’s rest day. Nothing has changed, the world champion still looks supremely comfortable. He is in control of the bike race. Yet positivity is what Visma clings on to. Perhaps they have no other choice.
“I think we have seen a really strong Jonas, but now he's putting Pogačar under pressure and that was not the case yet. In that way, it has strengthened our confidence,” Reef continued.
“There are still two stages to come, one with 5,500m of altitude. Not one climb like here, but three climbs. The weather will likely change, so a lot is still possible, and we want to fight until Paris.”
