“When those two guys went past, it’s like I don’t do the same sport as them” is how Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno X-Mobility) described being passed by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) on the final climb after fighting for the win on stage 15 of the Tour de France in the breakaway.
The two best climbers in the Tour were led onto the final climb up Plateau de Beille by Visma’s Matteo Jorgenson with a deficit of 2:35 on the five-man group which remained from the day’s break in front. This comprised of Johannessen, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Enric Mas (Movistar), Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).
However, after taking on the hellish 15.8km Pyrenean beast, the closest to stage winner Pogačar at the line was Olympic Champion Carapaz 5:41 behind the race leader, with Johannesen even further back 6:27 in arrears at the finish.
So big was Pogačar’s advantage that even when third place on the day and overall Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) came across the line, he was already starting a warm-down on his TT bike.
“We realised that Pogačar and Vingegaard would come in the end on the last climb, then it was just about winning the breakaway but I think Carapaz did that,” said Johannessen, defeated but in awe of the men who have won the past four Tours de France between them.
“For me, when those two guys went past it’s like I don’t do the same sport as them. They are way too good and you want to hate them, but they are cool guys and make cycling fun to watch so it’s a bit hard. [They are] on another level.”
The Norwegian is no stranger to being outdone by Pogačar and Vingegaard having missed out on a maiden Tour stage win behind only the superstars on stage 6 of the 2023 Tour when the Slovenian won in Cauterets-Cambasque
It was a big day for Johannessen making it into one of the many moves that were launched on the hellish 197.7km route that was filled with nearly 5000 metres of elevation gain, however, he feels he lost energy after missing a key split on the Col d’Agnes with 73km to go.
“It was for me good to be in the breakaway, that was the first goal. After that, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had a couple of guys and they saw an opportunity before one of the last climbs to split the group. I got caught behind so I was a bit pissed but I used that aggression to bridge up to the group to be able to fight for a win,” said the young Norwegian before admitting the tactical battle up to Plateau de Beille played out as they knew the win was gone.
“Some got a bit pissed but the opportunity for the win was gone then it went into a tactical phase, you just have to try to attack and be the last guy to get caught.
“For me, I didn’t have the best legs after bridging up to the front group so I knew that it was over. In the end, it was nothing but that’s life.”
Johannessen will now settle in for the second rest day after two monstrous days in the Pyrenees back-to-back, with all eyes on chasing a first win for Uno-X Mobility alongside his teammates in the final six stages.
“Sleep as long as I want then have some cake and coffee, not think about cycling for one day then back to work,” he said of his plans for Monday.
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