Jonas Vingegaard Captures Stage 11 Victory at the 2024 Tour de France After Battle with Tadej Pogačar in the Mountains

 

Stage 11 of the 2024 Tour de France took off from Évaux-les-Bains, heading out over a distance of 211 through the Massif Central region to the destination at Le Lioran.

After the first climb of the day, a group of 6 held a gap over the peloton of just under 20 seconds. The group consisted of Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Oscar Onley (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Oier Lazkano (Movistar Team), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies).

Romain Bardet (Team dsm–firmenich PostNL), winner of Stage 1 of the 2024 Tour de France, suffered a tire puncture 124 km from the finish, but was able to regain contact with the peloton with team assistance.

46 km from the finish, Wout van Aert (Visma–Lease a Bike) crashed around a turn, which led to a mechanical issue requiring a bike replacement. While van Aert crashed with a group of riders, the rest of the group was able to avoid being effected and carried on in chase of the breakaway group.

With 32 km to go, Ben Healy was the last rider from the breakaway group off the front of the pack to get caught as the riders got deeper into the mountains. In the next kilometer, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who held the Maillot Jaune on the stage, went off the front to make his move, reaching the summit of the Category Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol climb first.

With 20 km to go and approaching the final climb of the day on the Category 3 Col de Font de Cère, Pogačar had opened up a 28 second gap from the chase group, which consisted of 9 riders. 5 km later, with 15 km to go to the finish, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) was able to catch up to Pogačar, leading to a brief sprint battle and gamesmanship between the two general classification contenders. First to the line the the top of the Col de Font de Cère would receive an additional 8 seconds in time bonus, while second would receive 5 seconds. Pogačar ultimately edged Vingegaard at the summit to capture the additional seconds in the overall standings.

Pogačar and Vingegaard continued there battle into the final kilometers with 6 km to go, as Remco Evenepoel (Soudal–Quick-Step), the Best Young Rider entering the day and second overall in the race through the first 10 stages, remained about 40 seconds back.

The finish did not disappoint, as Pogačar and Vingegaard continued their battle side-by-side all the way to the line. At the line, Vingegaard was able stay poised as Pogačar tried to accelerate and throw his bike forward for good measure to capture the Stage 11 victory. This was Vingegaard's first stage victory at the 2024 Tour de France after wining both the 2023 and 2022 editions of the Tour. 

Remco Evenepoel finished the stage in third, 25 seconds back, with Primož Roglič (Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) coming in fourth 55 seconds behind Pogačar and Vingegaard after losing his wheel and crashing on a tight turn within the final 3 kilometers.

Tadej Pogačar will maintain the Maillot Jaune after the stage, while Remco Evenepoel will also keep his lead as the Best Young Rider. Pogačar will also hold the King of the Mountains classification lead after Stage 11, while Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty) will hold onto the Green Jersey as leader of the points classification.

Stage 12 of the 2024 Tour de France will be a 203.6 km flat stage from Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot which will favor sprinters, as long as they can handle stay consistent through the first part of the stage which begins in the mountains.