Tour de France 2024

Photo finish! Vingegaard takes stage 11 ahead of Pogacar

Jonas Vingegaard wins the 11th stage in a photo finish against Tadej Pogacar ...

(Bild: Associated Press)

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard has won the 11th stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish ahead of Tadej Pogacar!

On the demanding stage in the Massif Central to Le Lioran, the Dane was the first to attack in the decision between the two favorites for overall victory and crossed the finish line just ahead of the Slovenian. Remco Evenepoel finished third, 25 seconds behind. Felix Gall crossed the finish line in tenth place, 2:38 minutes behind.

"It's very emotional for me. To come back like this..."
Pogacar is now 1:06 minutes ahead of Evenepoel and 1:14 minutes ahead of Vingegaard in the overall standings in the yellow jersey. The Dane shed tears in the interview after his success. "It's very emotional for me. To come back like this...", said Vingegaard, who had feared not only for his Tour start but also for his career after a serious crash in April. "I'm just happy to be here. It means a lot to me to win here," said the Visma pro.

The last 50 kilometers of the stage were particularly tough with four mountain classifications - including one category 1. Pogacar's UAE team kept the pace high throughout the day and never let the breakaway get more than three minutes away. The top favorite wanted to make a statement and finally attacked solo 30 kilometers before the finish. He opened up a lead of over 30 seconds on Vingegaard and Co.

"The Tour is far from over!"
But the Dane recovered and caught up with Pogacar again on the penultimate climb with 17 kilometers to go. The duo then decided the stage win between themselves in the Le Lioran ski area. For Vingegaard, the success was also a small satisfaction, as Pogacar had thought on the rest day on Monday that his rival was only hanging on to his rear wheel. Although the 25-year-old extended his lead on Wednesday, Vingegaard was combative. "The Tour is far from over," he said.

Gall was unable to keep up with the pace of the leaders. The East Tyrolean finished behind Primoz Roglic (4th), who crashed on a descent, or Adam Yates (7th) as a solo rider. In the overall standings, last year's eighth-placed rider is now 13th, 9:18 minutes behind Pogacar. Gall is just under one and a half minutes behind the top 10.

After the climbing test in the heart of France, it's back to the sprinters on Thursday. In Villeneuve-sur-Lot, anything other than a sprint to the finish would be a surprise.

The result of the 11th stage:
1st Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma 4:58:00 hrs.
2nd Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE - same time
3rd Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal +25 sec.
Further:
10th Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon +2:38 min.
70th Gregor Mühlberger (AUT) Movistar +25:17
89th Marco Haller (AUT) Red Bull +29:23

The overall standings:
1st Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE 45:00:34 hrs.
2nd Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal +1:06 min.
3rd Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma +1:14
Further:
13th Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon +9:18
90th Gregor Mühlberger (AUT) Movistar +1:39:06 hrs.
112th Marco Haller (AUT) Red Bull +1:51:51