Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard clinched victory in stage 11 of the Tour de France, outpacing rival and overall leader Tadej Pogacar in a dramatic sprint to the finish line. Vingegaard, representing Visma-Lease a Bike, edged out Pogacar of UAE-Team-Emirates after a grueling 211km ride to Le Lioran in France’s Massif Central.
Despite Vingegaard’s win, Pogacar remains in the yellow jersey, leading by one minute and six seconds over Remco Evenepoel, who finished third on the stage. Vingegaard trails Evenepoel by an additional eight seconds.
The stage saw Pogacar launch an attack 32km from the finish, briefly pulling away from the field. However, Vingegaard managed to catch up on the penultimate climb, setting the stage for a thrilling finish. Reflecting on his victory, a tearful Vingegaard, who suffered a major crash in April, said, “It is very emotional for me, coming back from the crash… It means a lot and all the things I went through in the last three months… I would never have been able to do this without my family.”
Pogacar had previously suggested Vingegaard was “a little afraid” of him and his team, following Vingegaard’s strategy in stage nine to follow Pogacar’s wheel. However, Vingegaard’s decisive sprint on Tuesday proved otherwise. “Now we can all see it’s a fair fight and [Vingegaard] is in top shape,” Pogacar conceded. “He beat me really good on the line. Let’s continue to do it like this.”
In the battle for the overall win, Belgium’s Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step lost ground when Pogacar attacked but recovered to finish 25 seconds behind. Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe crashed late in the stage but was awarded the same time as Evenepoel, due to the crash occurring within 3km of the finish.
Britain’s Mark Cavendish, a record-breaking Tour stage winner, finished near the back of the field, 41 minutes behind the leaders. Meanwhile, his compatriot Fred Wright of Bahrain-Victorious is out of the race after finishing beyond the time limit.
Stage 11 Results
- Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) 4hrs 58mins 00secs
- Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) Same time
- Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +25secs
- Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +55secs
- Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +1min 47secs
- Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 49secs
- Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) Same time
- Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) Same time
- Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +1min 55secs
- Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +2mins 38secs
General Classification
- Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 45hrs 00mins 34secs
- Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +1min 06secs
- Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 14secs
- Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +2mins 45secs
- Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +4mins 20secs
- Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +4mins 40secs
- Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +5mins 38secs
- Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +6mins 09secs
- Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +7mins 09secs
- Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +7mins 36secs