"I'm gone, I'm dead." The words keep cropping up among the Danish crowds on the roads of this Tour de France, emblazoned on t-shirts and banners. On the climb to Superdévoluy the other day, one roadside campervan had the legend displayed prominently for the passing peloton to see. It wasn't clear if it was intended as a warning to Tadej Pogačar or an exhortation to Jonas Vingegaard. Either way, it served as a reminder: the 2024 Tour de France isn't over just yet.
In the past two Julys, Vingegaard availed of the highest mountain of the Tour to break Pogačar's resistance. In 2022, he and his then-teammate Primož Roglič unleashed the devastating onslaught on the Galibier that led to Pogačar's eventual collapse on the Col du Granon. Twelve months ago, Pogačar conceded the Tour to his rival on the Col de la Loze, with the laying down of arms immortalised by the words that crackled over the radio to his teammates: "I'm gone, I'm dead."
