Vingegaard received no updates from the team car during time trial flop: “It would have only made things worse”

He addressed it on the TV2 talk show AftenTour, the Danish version of Avondetappe. There, Vingegaard repeated his words from earlier in the day, after finishing the 33-kilometer time trial in Caen. “I just couldn’t find the rhythm at all. It was as if I couldn’t find my place out there. I think I did everything I could and trained a lot on the time trial bike. It just wasn’t my day.”

Vingegaard ended up recording the thirteenth fastest time. After finishing, he immediately noticed his numbers on the power meter. “That’s why I’m surprised I had such a bad day. Compared to the wattage I put out in the Dauphiné, I was way below that today. Something was off, and I can’t say whether it was because of me or something else.”

Vingegaard realized pretty quickly what was happening during his time trial. At the first intermediate checkpoint, he recorded the seventh fastest time. Not a disaster, as most riders managed to gain time in the second part of the time trial. But Vingegaard continued to lose more and more time as his ride progressed. By halfway, the Dane was already 45 seconds behind Evenepoel.

Vingegaard himself had no idea how far behind he was at the checkpoints: the four-time Tour de France stage winner didn’t receive any time updates from the team car. “But with the feeling I had and the wattage I was putting out, I realized it just wasn’t my day. If they had given me time splits, it would have only made it worse.”

Still, Vingegaard isn’t letting his head drop. “Of course I’m disappointed. But I still think it’s possible to win this Tour.” In the general classification, the Danish top favorite for overall victory has dropped to fourth place, with a deficit of 1 minute and 13 seconds to yellow jersey wearer Pogacar. Evenepoel (second) and Kévin Vauquelin (third) are still in between them.