{"id":2048681,"date":"2026-07-17T09:15:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2048681"},"modified":"2026-07-17T09:15:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:15:05","slug":"vingegaard-thinks-he-can-beat-pogacar-in-the-tour-de-france-mountains-now-its-time-to-prove-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2048681","title":{"rendered":"Vingegaard Thinks He Can Beat Poga\u010dar in the Tour de France Mountains. Now It’s Time to Prove It."},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2284861748-scaled-e1784280408433.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated July 17, 2026 05:29AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jonas Vingegaard has been talking tough so far at this Tour de France.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s time for his legs to do the talking.<\/p>\n

Already 3:36 back on Tadej Poga\u010dar, a weekend through the Vosges could make-or-break Vingegaard\u2019s chances to reel in his rival in week 3 through the Alps.<\/p>\n

Any further losses in a brutal mountain double-header on stages 14 and 15 will all but bury Vingegaard\u2019s chances at a third yellow jersey.<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike would be facing down a third straight Tour de France demolition by Poga\u010dar. Worse still, it would throw Vingegaard into an ugly fight for the podium. Remco Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso, and Paul Seixas are stacked up less than one minute behind him.<\/p>\n

But if Vingegaard makes any gains \u2013 even a dozen seconds \u2013 it will revive hope before the Tour reaches its high mountain crux in the Alps.<\/p>\n

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Make or break for Vingegaard in the Vosges<\/h2>\n
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Vingegaard needs to gain back time to Poga\u010dar in the Vosges or he risks being drawn into a messy fight for the podium.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vingegaard insisted after his damaging losses to Poga\u010dar on stage 10 in the Massif Central that the terrain was against him.<\/p>\n

The procession of short hills was Pogi\u2019s territory, not his.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think in the end it was not too bad of a day. Shorter climbs like this are not what suits me the best, so I had to fight today,\u201d Vingegaard said Tuesday in the Massif Central.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo come away with a smaller loss like this is something I can be happy with.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a line Visma has been bullishly repeating since Day 1 \u2013 Vingegaard is a man for the high mountains.<\/p>\n

The narrative was even rolled out after Vingegaard was blown back by Poga\u010dar on the Tourmalet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my legs are getting better and I\u2019m looking forward to the longer climbs,\u201d Vingegaard added on Tuesday. \u201cHopefully we can have some good weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The good times have<\/em> to start now.<\/p>\n

Friday is the first of three stages through the Vosges as the Tour de France finally reaches its first block of consecutive mountain stages.<\/p>\n

Vingegaard needs to move on stages 13, 14, and 15 through steep, sinuous climbs that he bullishly believes suit him best. Waiting any longer will be too late.<\/p>\n

A redux of Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s most famous victories over Poga\u010dar in Alps \u2013 think the Col du Granon in 2022 and Col de la Loze in 2023 \u2013 feels impossible this time around.<\/p>\n

Matteo Jorgenson is sick, Wout van Aert is out, and UAE Emirates-XRG is playing the Tour like it\u2019s a game of PlayStation.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar could end the Tour de France on Sunday<\/h2>\n
Poga\u010dar can tighten his grip on the yellow jersey in stages 13, 14, and 15.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a likely breakaway stage Friday, the GC mountain pain begins Saturday.<\/p>\n

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Stage 14 to Le Markstein loads four categorized climbs and around 3,800 meters of gain into just 155km. A longer, hillier stage and a summit finish on the brutal Plateau de Solaison arrives 24 hours later on stage 15.<\/p>\n

The 11km, 9 percent Plateau de Solaison is one of the most severe summits of the race.<\/p>\n

And if the name rings a bell, it\u2019s because Poga\u010dar\u2019s teammate Isaac del Toro sealed his victory at the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4nes-Alpes on the same Plateau last month.<\/p>\n

Visma should consider itself warned.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar said Thursday in his stage 12 press conference that he\u2019s expecting fireworks this weekend.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll probably be lighting them himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cTomorrow [stage 13 on Friday] is a bit of a weird stage. It\u2019s very long, so it\u2019s going to be a hard day for us as a team. We will need to survive as well as possible,\u201d Poga\u010dar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturday and Sunday are the bigger days for the GC,\u201d he said. \u201cFriday, we will see what happens. But it would be best for us to save some energy for then.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Poga\u010dar and UAE Emirates-XRG have been ominously quiet the past 48 hours. They might be planning to seal the Tour de France seven days early this weekend.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Vingegaard needs to blow the race back open \u2013 or it might never happen.<\/p>\n

Stages 13-15: The Tour de France returns to the mountains<\/h2>\n

Friday: Stage 13<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Saturday: Stage 14<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sunday: Stage 15<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Tour<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated July 17, 2026 05:29AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tour-de-france\/vingegaard-make-or-break-tour-de-france\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2284861748-scaled-e1784280408433.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated July 17, 2026 05:29AM Jonas Vingegaard has been talking tough so far at this Tour de France. Now it\u2019s time for his legs to do the talking. Already 3:36 back on Tadej Poga\u010dar, a weekend through the Vosges could make-or-break Vingegaard\u2019s chances to reel in his rival in week […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2048681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2048681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2048681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2048681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2048681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}