New Visma documentary shows a frustrated Jonas Vingegaard claim the Tour de France route was 'made for Pogačar

Jonas Vingegaard’s withdrawal from the Tour de France was a huge blow for Visma | Lease a Bike. The team leader and second-place rider in the general classification broke his collarbone during the fifteenth stage. A new Visma documentary reveals just how bad the timing was. As it turns out, the team already knew it was going to be tough; the Dane had been frustrated with the course for a while.

Visma | Lease a Bike got off to a perfect start in the Tour de France with a victory in the team time trial, putting Vingegaard in the yellow jersey right away. In the subsequent mountain stages, however, rival Tadej Pogacar got his revenge and took over the leader’s jersey. In Stage 6, the world champion from UAE Team Emirates-XRG once again delivered a massive blow.

On the stage to Gavarnie-Gèdre, he accelerated on the Col du Tourmalet and ultimately opened up a lead of no less than 2.38 minutes over Vingegaard. As a result, Visma | Lease a Bike was immediately facing a massive deficit, even before the first rest day. “We were already a little worried that the gap would be that big, which is why we wanted to have support riders up front,” Marc Reef says in the documentary on the team’s YouTube channel.

But on that first rest day, it also became clear that the team had plans for later in the Tour. Vingegaard’s moment was yet to come. “We went into the race with the idea that we wanted to make a difference on the Plateau de Solaison (Stage 15, ed.),” Reef said. “But there are also stages where we think he’ll have an advantage, namely Stages 10 and 14.”

Those were the stages to Le Lioran and Le Markstein. At the finish of stage ten two years earlier, Vingegaard had surprisingly beaten Pogacar, but the frustrated Slovenian got his revenge and struck hard. On the way to Le Markstein, it was more of the same: Vingegaard gave it a shot, but was outclassed by his rival, who once again gained a lot of time on him.

After the finish, a clearly frustrated Vingegaard was seen on the bus. “This route was really made for him,” he grumbled, shrugging his shoulders. “Today, too, there was nothing I could do about it. He’s just too explosive. And when I try to make it less explosive, there are descents in the climbs. Then there’s nothing I can do. But I was strong, which is good news for tomorrow.”

The next day, the route took us to the Plateau de Solaison. Reef was happy that a classic uphill finish was finally on the schedule. “It’s a shame that there’s always a flat section or a valley after the climb; that’s where Jonas loses the most time to Pogacar. Tomorrow, however, a long, tough climb awaits us. Hopefully, we can fight for a top result there.”

Visma | Lease a Bike had circled the fifteenth stage in red for a long time. The finish at Plateau de Solaison—and the second finish at Alpe d'Huez on Stage 20—would be crucial. “The problem yesterday was that it wasn’t steep enough,” Vingegaard said that morning during the team meeting. “He was able to save 20 watts on my wheel. If you don’t save any power today because it’s steeper, they’ll fall off the back. And I also felt that Pogačar wasn’t comfortable on my wheel on the steep sections.”

So things had to be different on the Plateau de Solaison. Visma | Lease a Bike took control of the race and set a brisk pace heading into the final climb. But instead of a day of glory, it turned into a nightmare: Vingegaard crashed and broke his collarbone. Goodbye Tour de France, goodbye chance at the yellow jersey, goodbye competition for Pogacar. The fact that it all went wrong on that very day was incredibly bitter.

Vingegaard later said the same thing when he visited Matteo Jorgenson during a recovery session at the hotel. “My legs felt good and everyone was really strong. It’s easy to say, but I think I could have won today,” he said wistfully. Still, he was looking forward to spending time with his family. “I need it, that’s for sure. I needed it after the Tour anyway, but I’m going to take some time off.”