2022 Tour de France: Vingegaard drops Pogacar in final Tour mountain test
The Tour de France 2022 winds down today after the fireworks between Jonas Vingegaard and defending champion Tadej Pogacar throughout Stage 17 and 18, leaving the Dane poised to snatch victory and a maiden Grand Tour title. There is just the flat stage today from Castelnau Magnoac to Cahors, Saturday’s time trial and Sunday’s ceremonial ride to the Champs-Élysées.
The Jumbo-Visma leader conquered Hautacam and now simply has to avoid disaster to triumph on cycling’s biggest stage. The sprinters still have a chance at glory themselves, in a wide-open Stage 19, Jasper Philipsen, Wout van Aert, Fabio Jakobsen and Caleb Ewan will all fancy their chances across 188km.
“It’s incredible,” Vingegaard said after stretching his lead to three minutes 26 seconds, while Geraint Thomas looks primed for a podium spot and is four minutes 34 seconds further behind, with a cushion of three minutes five seconds to David Gaudu in fourth. “This morning I said to my girlfriend and my daughter I wanted to win for them and I did. I’m really happy and proud. This one is for my two girls at home. I was just happy that it finally ended. It was incredibly hard. Of course I am incredibly happy that I won the stage. There are two more days to come until we are in Paris and we must stay focused.” Follow all the latest action from stage 19 below.
