Biting Tour favorites rage about missing "balls"
After the first third of the tour, the favorites are closely packed together. Jonas Vingegaard causes unhappiness for Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel. He is accused of being "scared." However, Vingegaard himself reports fear of death after his horror crash.
Pogacar and Evenepoel shot arrows at the "eggless" Jonas Vingegaard. The Danish title defender, in turn, spoke in a moving monolog about the death anxiety after his horror crash: The stars of the 111th Tour de France continued their exchange of blows during the longed-for sprint finish after nine days of chaos. The (Un-)Rest day in Orléans fuels the fiery fight for yellow.
"I think he's just scared of me. That's why he and his team are so focused on me," said the Slovenian Tour frontrunner Pogacar about Vingegaard, looking at the spectacular gravel stage on Sunday. There, Pogacar attacked, and the Belgian second-placed Evenepoel also did. Vingegaard, third in the general classification, clung to the wheels of his rivals, but refused to take on the leadership role.
"Sometimes a cyclist just needs eggs. Unfortunately, Vingegaard didn't have any," said Evenepoel somewhat bitterly: "At least on Sunday, we could have decided the podium." But so it goes: Pogacar, Evenepoel (33 seconds behind), Vingegaard (+1:15 minutes), and the slowenian Red Bull captain Primoz Roglic (+1:36 minutes) are closely packed together, going into the second week.
Vingegaard enjoys without trash talk
It's quite a question what interest Vingegaard, who wants to win the Tour for the third time in a row, has in securing a third place early. "I didn't think it made sense for me to participate in the tempo work. I preferred to wait for my helpers," said Vingegaard. Basketball-style "trash talk," as his rivals bring it to the Tour, is not Vingegaard's thing.
Thoughtful defense against Department of Attack - that's how this Tour runs. Vingegaard acts like a table tennis player, who defends unperturbed against the constant topspin balls of aggressive opponents with long paddles. But avoiding a loss at the Tour doesn't necessarily mean winning it. Vingegaard knows that, but he also knows: Given the serious injuries from the Basque Country Tour in April and the corresponding training deficit, every day without time loss is a gain. And with each such day, Vingegaard's chance to strike back at the ultra-hard last three stages grows.
However, Vingegaard doesn't want to put pressure on himself. "I just enjoy riding my bike here," he said in the morning before a large press conference. That he was able to hold court in the Mercure Hotel in Orléans at all was by no means self-evident.
Immediately after the crash at the departure in the Basque Country, Vingegaard came close to finishing. With all: "I thought I was going to die. When I was lying there on the ground, I told myself: If I survive this, I will stop cycling." At the time, he landed on the intensive care unit with bone fractures and a punctured lung: "But here I am sitting, so I obviously didn't stop."
His current defensive stance therefore has tactical reasons, but for the family father, it is almost a life-saving measure. "Before, I thought that severe crashes would not happen to me. But then it happened," he said: "Now I'm more cautious. And that can be done when you're racing for victories." And for this realization, pardon: it takes eggs.
Tadej Pogacar acknowledged the strategic focus of Jonas Vingegaard and his team on him during the Tour de France. Despite the intense competition, Vingegaard continued to excel in cycling, showcasing his resilience after his horrific crash during the Basque Country Tour.
Successively, the Tour de France entered its second week, with Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic, and several other top-ranking cyclists remaining closely packed in the general classification. Despite the fierce competition, Vingegaard, who aimed to win the Tour for the third consecutive time, maintained a thoughtful defense strategy, eschewing the Basketball-style "trash talk" often employed by his rivals.
