Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) launched a massive, potentially race-winning attack on the slopes of the Col du Granon after an epic day of combative attacking among the general classification candidates.
He dropped everyone with his surge with five kilometres to go after a hard day’s racing in the Alps, rapidly taking time on all his rivals including Tadej Pogačar who dramatically cracked to fall out of the race lead.
"I think it’s really incredible. It’s hard for me to put words on what happened,” said new yellow jersey Vingegaard. “This is what I dreamt of. A stage in the Tour de France, and now the yellow jersey, it is incredible.”
“We made a plan from the start of the day, you can see that quite clearly now. We wanted to make the race super hard, we thought it would go in my favour and in the favour of Primoz. I took a lot of time today, and I would have never done it without my teammates. They have been incredible.”
It was anticipated that the race would be a big battle between the general classification candidates and it looked like that would eventuate as the attacking started early on the stage, with the Col du Telegraph and the Col du Galibier the scene of a number of major attacks by Jumbo-Visma as they attempted to break Pogačar, with the two-time Tour de France champion largely isolated as he had to respond to the attacks by himself.
He weathered all the assaults and even threatened to blow the race apart with his own attacks, but Vingegaard covered each move, with the other main general classification riders able to recover to the Vingegaard/Pogačar group as the pace slowed.
It all came down the 10-kilometre ascent of the Col du Granon to finish, and it appeared that for most of the ascent that it might be a much more controlled affair than the Galibier, but with just under five kilometres to go, Vingegaard launched a move and for once, Pogačar wasn’t able to follow.
The Dane steadily increased his lead, as Pogačar cracked dramatically, overtaken by many of his rivals for the general classification as he was clearly struggling, jersey unzipped, up the final kilometres of the steep ascent.
Vingegaard overhauled lone breakaway rider Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) and fellow general classification attackers Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and was in the lead by himself, also riding his way into the yellow jersey by a significant margin as he powered clear.
He won the stage by 59 seconds over Quintana, Bardet a minute and 10 seconds back, but the time gap to the previous race leader was the one everyone was watching, as Pogačar struggled over the finish two minutes and 51 seconds behind Vingegaard.
The 25-year-old Dane is the new race leader, with Bardet in second at two minutes and 16 seconds, with Pogačar third at two minutes and 22 seconds. Second overall to seventh all currently sit within a minute of each other, with Vingegaard clear at the top.
The Tour de France continues with Stage 12, a special set-piece for the Tour de France with the summit finish to Alpe D'Huez on Bastille Day sure to bring out the best in the riders and fans. Watch from 8.55pm AEST on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker and then from 9.30pm AEST on SBS and SBS On Demand.
