Tour de France challengers Visma-Lease a Bike promise to persist in their competition, asserting they will remain a formidable force, amid dominance shown by Tadej Pogacar.
In the ongoing 2025 Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike finds himself trailing Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG by a significant margin of 3:31 after the gruelling stage 12 to Hautacam.
The mountainous stage saw Pogacar put 2:14 into Vingegaard, a deficit that, while substantial, is not insurmountable in the Tour de France, especially with several stages remaining, including more mountain stages or time trials. Vingegaard, a proven Grand Tour winner, is known for his consistency and strength in the mountains. If he can attack decisively and Pogacar has an off-day or marks his moves poorly, the lead could be reduced.
However, Pogacar's lead is substantial enough that Vingegaard would need major time gains on key stages or benefit from tactical vulnerabilities from Pogacar or his team. Grischa Niermann, DS for Visma-Lease a Bike, admitted that they currently face a significant deficit. The team's strategy on the last climb was to attack with Vingegaard, but it wasn't going well, and they had to slow down.
Vingegaard finished second in the recent stage, but Pogacar's dominance was evident, as he has won the two general classification days so far in the Tour de France. The upcoming test on Friday is a 10.9km time trial with 645m of climbing, a stage where strong climbers or time trialists like Vingegaard can attack. If Vingegaard can hit back in the time trial, it will show that the race is still competitive.
The Tour de France is not over yet, as there is still a lot to come. The race visited Hautacam in the past, with roles being reversed, with Vingegaard all-but sealing the yellow jersey. The Tour de France is not guaranteed to have Pogacar in yellow for a fourth time. The Tour de France still has 9 days to go, and every second counts for Vingegaard as he strives to regain the lead.
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