Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard clinched victory in stage 11 of the Tour de France, outpacing overall leader Tadej Pogacar in a thrilling sprint finish. Vingegaard, defending champion with Visma-Lease a Bike, crossed the line ahead of Pogacar from UAE-Team-Emirates after a grueling 211km stage to Le Lioran in France’s Massif Central region.
Pogacar retains the yellow jersey, now leading Remco Evenepoel by one minute and six seconds, with Vingegaard trailing a further eight seconds behind. The Slovenian rider broke away from the peloton with 32km remaining but was caught by Vingegaard on the penultimate climb.
Vingegaard, 27, overcame significant injuries from an April crash, emotionally reflecting post-race: “It is very emotional for me, coming back from the crash… It means a lot and all the things I went through in the last three months… I would never have been able to do this without my family.”
Ahead of the sprint, Pogacar had previously suggested Vingegaard’s caution, noting: “He was a little afraid.” However, Vingegaard initiated the final sprint, holding off Pogacar at the line.
Reflecting on the competition, Pogacar acknowledged Vingegaard’s form, stating: “Now we can all see it’s a fair fight and [Vingegaard] is in top shape. He beat me really good on the line. Let’s continue to do it like this.”
Among the ‘big four’ contenders, Belgium’s Evenepoel lost ground temporarily but finished strong, 25 seconds behind. Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic crashed late but was awarded the same time as Evenepoel due to the incident occurring within 3km of the finish. Mark Cavendish finished further back, while Fred Wright exited the race for surpassing the time limit.
