Jonas Vingegaard: “Everyone Came to Win, But Tadej Pogacar Showed He Was the Better”

Tadej Pogacar has officially reclaimed the Maillot Jaune in style with a scintillating sixth stage win in the final individual time-trial around Nice.

All eyes were on Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel, the three big favorites for the win. In the end, the victory went to Pogacar, who seems insatiable. The UAE Team Emirates leader won 6 stages, matching his wins in the Giro d’Italia, and secured the double in style with a time of 45:24.

The first rider to start the final time trial in Nice was Davide Ballerini, clocking a time of 53:10, soon beaten by Cees Bol’s 52:24. Lenny Martinez took provisional first place with a 48:24, but there was still a long way to go.

No one came close to Martinez’s time until Raul Garcia Pierna posted a 49:57 after nearly two hours of trials. Finally, at 17:10, Harold Tejada set a new mark of 48:14, surpassing Martinez by 10 seconds. For a while, Tejada’s time remained unbeaten, with riders like Enric Mas, Richard Carapaz, and Jai Hindley struggling to surpass it.

As the favorites prepared to start, Tejada’s closest competitors were Martinez, Victor Campenaerts (48:38), Neilson Powless (49:09), and Matteo Sobrero (49:19). Quentin Pacher placed fourth provisionally with a 42:54, just before the top 10 in the general classification began their runs, with the podium already confirmed for Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Evenepoel.

At the first intermediate point, Remco Evenepoel set a time of 20:36, 36 seconds faster than Derek Gee. Jonas Vingegaard then improved on this with a 20:17. But it was Pogacar who set the best time at 20:10, 7 seconds faster than Vingegaard. At the second intermediate point, Evenepoel led with 29:30, but Vingegaard’s 29:03 and Pogacar’s 28:39 were even better.

By the third intermediate point, Pogacar looked set for victory, leading with 39:28, 1 minute and 4 seconds ahead of Vingegaard’s 40:32. Pogacar’s final time of 45:24 secured his sixth stage win and a historic Grande Boucle. Evenepoel finished with 46:38, and Vingegaard overtook him with 46:27 to secure second place.

After the race, Jonas Vingegaard extended his congratulations to Tadej Pogacar, acknowledging his superiority. “We all came to win, but Tadej just proved he was better than us,” Vingegaard said, adding that Pogacar’s performance was truly exceptional.