Past the finish line at Isola 2000, Jonas Vingegaard stepped away from the Tour de France for a moment and into the arms of his wife Trine. The defence of his title ended further down the mountain, but defeat takes nothing from the meaning of his journey over the past three months, from a hospital bed in Vitoria to a dizzying contest for the yellow jersey.
After a time, Matteo Jorgenson made his way over to Vingegaard and draped a consoling arm around his team leader’s shoulder. The American endured heartbreak of his own on Friday, missing out on stage victory when he was caught and passed by a rampant Tadej Pogačar near the summit, but his only thought here was to offer a salve to the dejection of Vingegaard, who now lies 5:03 down overall. “Hey, I’m proud of you,” Jorgenson said. “You gave everything, that’s all that matters, really.”
