Jonas Vingegaard predicts stage 17 of the Tour de France will be “hand-to-hand” combat on the final climb.
The Danish pro has been arguably the biggest revelation of this year’s race, as he stepped into a leadership role for Jumbo-Visma after Primož Roglič abandoned the race.
Vingegaard, 24, sits third overall heading into day 17 of the 2021 Tour and has been the only rider strong enough to ride away from yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
Looking ahead to stage 17, a 178km run from Muret to Saint-Lary-Soulan, Vingegaard said: “It is one of the toughest stages of this Tour and it will be a hand-to-hand combat on the final climb.”
Stage 17 starts with a long and flat 100km run into the foot of the first climb, the Col de Peyresourde, followed by the Col de Val Louron-Azet, which crests around 30km from the finish.
The race will then be decided on the daunting Col du Portet, at 16.4km climb with an average gradient of 8.6 per cent, where the GC contenders will be hoping to try and expose some weakness in the almost untouchable Pogačar.
Vingegaard is the only rider who has been able to put the Slovenian into trouble so far in this race, when he dropped Pogačar on the second ascent of Mont Ventoux on stage 11. But Pogačar was able to catch Vingegaard on the Ventoux descent, neutralising any time losses.
Jumbo-Visma took up the fight again in the final 10km of stage 16, attacking on the punchy final climb and riding to the line to try and distance their rivals, but without making any dents in the overall top-10.
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Wout van Aert, another of Jumbo-Visma’s stars, said: “It was not a premeditated plan. Mike [Teunissen] yelled through the radio that a number of favourites were far behind in the peloton. That was the moment for us to try and put on some pressure. Especially since there was a crosswind in the final kilometres. It was definitely worth trying, but in the end it didn’t work out. Behind Pogačar it’s very close, so every second gained is good. We’re going to keep trying if the opportunity arises.”
