Tadej Pogačar posts a heartfelt message to Jonas Vingegaard on Instagram: 'Cheers, Jonas'

For general classification contenders like Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, the Tour de France is currently in a slightly calmer phase. The two stars of this Tour de France chatted a bit before the start of Stage 11, after which Pogačar addressed Vingegaard in an Instagram post following the stage. “Cheers, Jonas,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, the two engaged in another duel—though it wasn’t really a duel—at Le Lioran, but with a sort of interlude in the Tour de France in terms of general classification stages, things have calmed down a bit now. Wednesday and Thursday are likely to be sprint stages, while Friday will be a day for the breakaway riders.

For stages like this, Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Emirates-XRG agreed not to attack each other: the general classification contenders all finished safely at the back of the peloton, which also meant there were fewer withdrawals.

Vingegaard—as the wearer of the polka-dot jersey—and Pogačar get to start side by side every stage, and they always have a little chat. Pogacar decided to post about it on Instagram . “Cycling is a tough sport… but it’s good to have a laugh every now and then. Cheers, Jonas 🤝,” was Pogacar’s caption. So in terms of rivalry, it doesn’t seem to be all that intense, although such things are often blown out of proportion in the Tour.

At Visma | Lease a Bike, they’re glad that days like this have become a bit calmer for them. “Everyone got through this stage just fine. The pace was exceptionally high right from the start. Because of that, there wasn’t really much nervousness in the peloton.”

"Jonas was always well-positioned, surrounded by his teammates. In the final, we didn't get involved in the battle for the stage win," said team manager Marc Reef.