'I want revenge, the Tour de France is not over' – Tadej Pogacar defiant after losing yellow to Jonas Vingegaard

Updated 13/07/2022 at 19:07 GMT

Tadej Pogacar may have lost the yellow jersey after a damaging day in the Alps, but the two-time champion is already turning his attention towards winning it back off Jonas Vingegaard. The Slovenian has an ominous task: overturn a 2’22” deficit with a UAE Team Emirates support cast that lacks the firepower of Jumbo-Visma. Still, he was written off in 2020 and we all know what happened then…

'The Tour is not over' - Pogacar ready to fight on

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) already has “revenge” on his mind after losing the yellow jersey to Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) at the Tour de France after a brutal day in the Alps.

The Slovenian toiled on the Col du Granon in the closing stages on Wednesday, the result of a sustained bombardment from Jumbo-Visma on Stage 11.

Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic had taken it in turns to burst clear in a frantic spell on the Col du Galibier with 58km remaining, although Pogacar had looked equal to each attack and even dropped one himself in a surprise show of strength.

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But when Vingegaard attacked on the day’s second hors categorie climb with 4.5km left, Pogacar had no answer.

The Dane ripped away to take the stage victory and, more importantly, open up a 2’22” lead in the general classification over Pogacar – with Romain Bardet (DSM) wedged between them at 2’16” after a superb ride from the Frenchman.

Pogacar cut an exhausted figure at the finish but immediately congratulated his Danish rival before using his post-race press conference to insist the show will go on.

Pogacar vows to 'keep fighting' after Tour collapse

“I felt good until to the point I didn’t feel good," Pogacar told Eurosport.

"It was a bad day in the end but I will keep fighting until the end. It’s still not over, there are still a lot of stages to go.”

He said in his post-race interview: "I was suffering until the end.

"They played it really smart, for us it was really hard to control. Tactically today they really did a good job.

Should his legs recover, Pogacar has an immediate chance to regain the time lost as the peloton heads to the imposing Alpe d’Huez on Thursday’s Stage 12.

"We will see tomorrow if I can do better. I want revenge, I want to race until the end. I want to give it everything and to have no regrets.

"It's not over yet. I lost three minutes today, maybe tomorrow I gain three minutes. I will keep fighting until the end."

Stage 11 highlights: Vingegaard stars in all-time classic as Pogacar wilts

‘I never would have done that without my team-mates’ – Vingegaard

It was by far the biggest day of Vingegaard’s fledgling career, with the 25-year-old paying tribute to his team-mates after an extraordinary effort.

"It’s really incredible. It’s hard for me to put words on. This is what I dreamed of – a stage in the Tour, and now the yellow jersey. Incredible,” Vingegaard said before breaking off to celebrate with his teammate Wout van Aert.

"We made a plan from the start of the day. Obviously, you can see what it was: we wanted to make it a super hard race. We thought that was in my favour and in the favour of Primoz.

“I took a lot of time today but I would never have done that without my team-mates – I really had to thank my team-mates. They were all incredibly strong today.

"On the Galibier, over the top, [Pogacar] was really strong and he dropped everyone else. I was a bit unsure if he was going full or not. Then on the last climb I was thinking that if I don’t try, I won’t win.

“Of course, a second place is a nice result on the GC – but I tried this last year and now I want to go for the victory, and that’s what I did today. Luckily it succeeded and I have the yellow jersey – so I’m going to keep on fighting for yellow and Paris."