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Jonas Vingegaard’s crash in Stage 15 of the Tour de France briefly brought the race’s final stretch to a complete standstill in the peloton. Visma | Lease a Bike promptly lost its team leader and was thus forced to abandon its ambitious pursuit of stage victory. But Tadej Pogacar also looked shaken when Isaac del Toro—who had also crashed—informed him of his rival’s withdrawal.
It was a bizarre scene in the race: a peloton that suddenly came to a standstill in the midst of the final stretch, brimming with emotion. On the one hand, we saw black-and-yellow riders circling around, defeated, disappointed, and bewildered. Davide Piganzoli seemed to be wondering aloud what had happened and whether what he had just seen and heard was true.
Pogacar was also informed about Vingegaard’s withdrawal; Vingegaard, along with his teammates Del Toro and Felix Grosschartner, had crashed at a roundabout and slammed hard into the curb. The UAE duo was able to continue, and Del Toro himself came over to tell Pogacar that he seemed to be okay. However, the Slovenian’s expression spoke volumes after everything that had happened.
The yellow jersey wearer dropped all the way back into the peloton, spoke briefly with his teammates, and picked up his radio. What now? UAE Emirates-XRG had no ambitions for Pogacar in this stage anyway, since Adam Yates was in the day’s breakaway. But for many teams, the stage seemed like a side issue for the moment as well.
Incidentally, Bahrain Victorious and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe did pick up the pace again as they headed toward the grueling final climb of the Plateau de Solaison.
Pogačar dejected after Vingegaard’s withdrawal
Incidentally, Bahrain Victorious and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe did pick up the pace again, heading towards the gruelling final climb of the Plateau de Solaison. Remco Evenepoel won the stage, although Pogacar seemed willing to let him take the victory following a UAE move on the final climb. Pogacar took Del Toro in his wake and together they finished second and third. As a result, Del Toro is now third in the general classification.
Pogacar couldn’t really be happy about that afterwards, as his dejected expression on the bike was still evident during the flash interview. ‘It’s very, very sad that Jonas crashed. Since 2021, we’ve been battling it out for the Tour victory and, although we might not have had the best relationship at the start, over the last two years we’ve become good and respected rivals, and even friends,’ he said respectfully.
‘The Tour de France won’t be the same without him,’ said Pogacar, who also drew a link between a night-time doping test for Vingegaard and the crash in the stage that followed on Sunday. ‘Are you less focused when your sleep has been ruined? His Tour de France certainly has been, and it could be connected,’ he remarked critically.
