Vingegaard sheds tears after reeling in Pogacar to win thrilling Tour stage
Jonas Vingegaard won stage 11 of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar’s bid to distance his main rival for yellow fell short in the Massif Central.
It came down to a sprint finish between the two in Le Lioran but for once Pogacar came off second best in such a scenario as defending champion Vingegaard took it by half a wheel.
That was after Vingegaard clawed back the 30-second lead Pogacar had built after his attack on the Pas de Peyrol, some 30km from the finish of this 211km stage from Evaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran.
Vingegaard remains third overall after Remco Evenepoel fought his way to the line to keep second place, but the win shows the Dane’s form is where it needs to be in his first race since suffering horrible injuries in a crash in the Basque Country in April.
“It’s of course very emotional for me,” he said. “Coming back from the crash… It means a lot. All the things I went through, in the last three months, yes, it makes you think out there, I would never have been able to do this without my family.
“I’m happy to be here. It means so much to win this stage. Especially to win it for my family. They were there supporting me the whole time.
“I couldn’t follow the attack he had, it was a very, very strong attack, I had to fight, I didn’t think I would be able to make it back, but I just kept fighting and I made it back, a bit surprised to beat him in a sprint. Of course it means so much to me. I’m so happy about the victory today. I would never have thought this three months ago. I didn’t think about that [psychological battle], only doing my own pace and later
the sprint.”
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