Part 2: Changing of the guard, Col du Granon, 11th stage, Tour de France 2022
At the beginning of his professional career, Jonas Vingegaard could be paralyzed by nervousness. In the 2019 Tour of Poland, the Dane ‘just’ had to defend the leader’s jersey on the final stage.
But he didn’t sleep a wink the night before. In the morning, he couldn’t eat. Out on the bike, he lost more than 14 minutes and dropped from first place to 26th.
Before his first professional race in the Ruta del Sol, he threw up in the team bus due to nerves.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Visma riders were asked to do a 10-minute home test at maximum effort.
Jonas Vingegaard delivered the best numbers of them all. Even Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert could not match him. This led the young man to put more pressure on himself than was healthy.
One of the best Tour de France stages ever became the ultimate showdown with that side of Jonas Vingegaard after years of working on it, especially together with his wife Trine Marie Hansen.
He and his teammates put everything on the line and executed a masterpiece. Tadej Pogacar appeared as a new invincible Tour king. But he raced like a man who thought he was unbeatable.
If things went awry and he had the slightest doubt about his helpers, he would chase after competitors himself, regardless of the difficult situation this could leave him in afterward. Jumbo-Visma exploited this.
Both Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic attacked between Col du Telegraphe and Galibier with more than 55 kilometers to the finish. Tadej Pogacar responded to every attack and even launched his own.
Shortly before the ascent to Col du Granon, the playful rider smiled at the camera.
Kate Wagner, journalist behind several Pogacar profile interviews:
»Tadej Pogacar was so extraordinarily good during his first two Tour de France victories that it seemed he didn’t even need a team. Sometimes he raced like a man who appeared to think that way. Now there’s a greater connection between Tadej Pogacar and the rest of the team because he saw what could happen on the Col du Granon stage. But Pogacar is still not the result of a cohesive unit in the same way as Vingegaard«.
Thomas Bay, commentator and former professional cyclist:
»Visma exploited the fact that they could wave a red flag in front of Tadej Pogacar’s eyes and get him to react as they hoped. He made every mistake in the tactical playbook that day. Primoz Roglic was practically finished due to his crash earlier in the Tour, and he knew it. Yet he had the class to sacrifice himself and attack first. Pogacar chased after him even though he should have solely focused on Vingegaard and waited for his teammates to catch up from behind«.
Michael Rasmussen, cycling expert and former professional cyclist:
»Visma is far more mechanical and better prepared for the task than UAE. They have a plan every single day. Sometimes you get the sense that the plan at UAE is just to ask Pogacar if he’s feeling good again today, and then they just race«.
Just like the year before at Mont Ventoux, Jonas Vingegaard attacked. But the move just under five kilometers from the top of Col du Granon was of a different nature. It wasn’t an attack primarily promising for the future.
It wasn’t an attack that was neutralized on the descent like 12 months before. It was an attack on the yellow jersey and the status of Tour king.
The many exertions earlier in the stage would take their toll on Pogacar in both his legs and his mind. It was the first time since his Tour victory in 2020 that the Slovenian looked bad on a bike. His mouth was wide open. Pogacar sat restlessly on his bike, often swaying.
The yellow jersey was zipped down and flapped to the sides as Romain Bardet, Geraint Thomas, and David Gaudu all rode away from him. Pogacar dropped his head between his shoulders as the pain stopped after the finish line. He had lost 2 minutes and 51 seconds over the course of 5 kilometers.
Lars Bak, cycling expert and former professional cyclist:
»I know the team management has had words with Tadej Pogacar several times since that stage. One of his few weaknesses is when the playful side of him overdoes things and underestimates the hammer blow Vingegaard can potentially deal to him. I can’t help but think whether Vingegaard’s uncharacteristic attack on the flat first stage of the Dauphine this year was an attempt to reactivate some of Pogacar’s bad habits. I believe Visma are trying to provoke Pogacar and get the playful Slovenian to forget to eat and drink. Because there’s no doubt it can be difficult to win going forward based purely on brute strength«.
Michael Rasmussen:
»Pogacar forgot to refuel the Ferrari, and then it doesn’t run, no matter how strong the engine is«.
When stage winners have raised their arms in the air, pedaled the final meter, hugged the soigneurs, thanked the teammates, in Jonas Vingegaard’s case called his wife Trine Marie Hansen, given the first TV interview in front of the sponsor wall broadcast to the entire world press and then to the main rights holders, they are finally seated in front of a video camera connected to the press room.
It’s often the moment when enough time has passed that the man in focus begins to realize what he has achieved. In some cases, it’s also clear that the moment is too big and will lead to a drop in performance in the following days.
That’s why it was so remarkable to see Jonas Vingegaard sit in the hot seat after his career’s first Tour de France victory. Even for a calm and reserved Jutlander.
Vingegaard ate and drank while answering journalists’ questions. He looked like a seasoned rider who had done it 50 times before. Because he had prepared for that moment before the race. There was a new sheriff in town.
Jonas Vingegaard after the victory at Col du Granon:
»Both Primoz (Roglic, ed.) and I have experienced standing on the second-highest step on the podium in Paris. It was great. But it also made me realize that if I didn’t try something like this attack, there was a good chance I’d stand in the same place again. So I decided I would reach out for the victory and risk a collapse rather than not try anything«.
Kate Wagner:
»The defeat at Col du Granon would have been even harder to recover from if the Tour had been Pogacar’s sole big goal. As it is for Vingegaard. But Pogacar was already very invested in also riding classics and winning all the major races in cycling. Of course, it was disappointing not to win the Tour. But it wasn’t a disappointment that sent him to rock bottom. That’s not how he’s wired. It was just onward to the next goal and appreciating what he had already won. Sometimes that playful approach is a mask. Because, of course, he wants to win every time«.
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