Combloux, France –
Defending champion Jonas Vinzigard may have time-trialed his way to a second consecutive Tour de France victory.
Vanzigor’s sensational time-trial on Tuesday saw the overall leaders extend their advantage over two-time champion Tadej Poga to nearly two minutes before an almost ceremonial final march to Paris on Sunday. It was extended to nearly 2 minutes at the remaining 5 stages including.
Asked if the race has already been won or lost, Vinzigard replied: “No, we still have a lot of tough stages and we have to keep fighting the next day.” “And yeah, we’re looking forward to it.
“I’m really, really happy with today’s win and I’m really proud. It’s my first time-trial win at the Tour de France, so yeah, I’m really proud.”
The Jumbo-Vizma team’s Vinzigard started the day just 10 seconds ahead of Poga Iar after barely being able to separate the two in a spellbinding duel over the past two weeks.
However, when it came to direct confrontation, Vinzigard was exceptional.
The Danish cyclist completed the 22.4km hilly route from Passy to Combloux by 1 minute 38 seconds ahead of Poga Iar. At the end of the 16th stage, Wout van Aert was third, two minutes and 51 seconds behind Wangegaard.
The 26-year-old Vinzigor now leads Poga Iar by 1 minute and 48 seconds overall, and it will take an equally sensational act from the Slovenian cyclist to snatch the yellow jersey from his rival. deaf. Adam Yates moved up to third overall, about nine minutes behind Vinzigard.
On Wednesday, the riders will face the most demanding and huge mountain stage of the race. The final of his four climbs on stage 17 is the Cord de la Roz, where he climbs 28.4 kilometers, then downhill to the Courchevel ski slopes, where the World Cup slalom races are held.
Tuesday’s time-trial was seen as a potential tiebreaker, but few could have imagined a gap of this magnitude.
“I think I surprised myself with my time trial today.
Poga Iar himself put in an impressive performance, passing the first time check 26 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. But Vinzigor, who rolled down the ramp at the end, was 16 seconds faster than Pogaard after just 7.1 kilometers, but improved his time to 30 seconds after the 12-kilometre race.
At the bottom of the second category climb with 5.3 kilometers to go, Poga Iar chose to switch from his time trial bike to a lightweight road bike, which helped him uphill. However, he was unable to match the exceptional performance of Vinzigard, whose rivals came into view on the way to the finish line, and gained more time.
Van Aert took off his hat at his teammate and smiled at the camera.
“It’s hard to understand what happened because it was an extraordinary event,” said Van Aert. “But we’ve seen it throughout the tour. These two guys are much stronger than the others. I’m happy to be in the top three in the end.”
“To win the yellow is a positive step. We are in very good shape. The next few days will be tough and important stages. Now we have recovered and are ready for tomorrow. I need to check if there is
