Rivals, take note! Vingegaard "definitely not at his very best", showing vulnerability after Visma | Lease a Bike’s hard work

Vingegaard’s red jersey is largely thanks to his stage win on day 2, and of course, that massive attack on day 9, where he took the stage and gained a huge chunk of time on nearly all his rivals. But the second week of racing has gone less smoothly, though we must say that he was never dropped. He picked up a few bonus seconds here and there, but on Angliru during stage 13, he wasn’t able to finish off all the hard work his team had done.

By stage 17, there was no more room to play it safe or conserve energy. Visma | Lease a Bike took full control. “We wanted to go for the stage win because we’re no longer sure how many stages will actually be raced,” Matteo Jorgenson told Eurosport, referring to the ongoing protests in this year’s race. “That’s why we tried to make sure the GC group would be fighting for the win.”

In the end, it was Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe who took charge leading into the final climb. When Ben Tulett drove the pace brutally on the steep early slopes, it wasn’t Vingegaard who attacked, but Jai Hindley, riding for Red Bull. “To be honest, I think I suffered more before the last climb than on the last climb. I think the pace was really high today and it was a really hard day.,” Vingegaard said afterward.

The strong headwind on the climb discouraged attacks for most of the ascent. Only Giulio Pellizzari (also from Red Bull) dared to go for it, and he pulled it off. Vingegaard ended up fourth in the sprint for second place. “I think we can be happy with the result, even though a stage win would have been nice. Jonas still gained a bit of time on Almeida, so overall it’s a good outcome,” said Jorgenson.

That time gain on Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was limited to just two seconds, putting Vingegaard 50 seconds ahead of the Portuguese rider in the general classification. Almeida also had a rough day, much like his Visma rival. “I had hoped to take the victory today but I couldn’t do that, and to gain two seconds in the general classification is better than nothing, obviously.”

But it raises the question: could Vingegaard and Almeida really not do more? Should Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Tom Pidcock be more optimistic now? The time trial on stage 18 could be crucial for both GC men in holding off the lightweights riding for Red Bull and Q36.5. “If I do a good time trial, then I think 50 seconds should be enough, but if you have a bad day it could be that you lose more than 50 seconds.”

Reflecting on the stage via his team’s official channels, Vingegaard admitted: “We had hoped for the victory beforehand, but I didn’t have my best day. You just need to survive those days, and I managed to do so.” Sport director Jesper Mørkøv echoed the sentiment. “Our goal today was indeed to go for the stage win,” the Dane confirmed.

“Dylan and Wilco once again did fantastic work. Then we had four riders up front for a long time and were well positioned. Jonas didn’t have his best day, but he was able to respond to the attacks. We still have the red jersey and are in a strong position in the general classification. We can be proud of that.”

“Yes, of course we wanted to win the stage, but in the end it comes down to the legs,” added Grischa Niermann, the other team director, to Eurosport. “Jonas didn’t have the best legs and had to take a more defensive approach on the final climb. We would have liked to win the stage. But the most important thing is that he’s still in red and that we gained a few more seconds.”

“He’s definitely not at his very best,” Niermann concluded. Rivals, take note!