Jonas Vingegaard crushed Tadej Pogacar’s hopes of reversing his 10sec deficit in the Tour de France by opening up a huge overall lead in the stage 16 time trial, dramatically ending days of shadow boxing through the French Alps.
The defending champion, riding for Jumbo-Visma, had always insisted the race would not be decided by seconds and he appears to have been right. The Dane’s devastating performance in the 22.4km “race of truth” from Passy to Combloux ensured that a cliffhanging showdown between the pair is now unlikely to materialise.
