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JONAS Vingegaard launched a stunning attack on the final climb of stage 11 to claim the Tour de France lead from defending champion Tadej Pogacar.
The 151.7km Alpine stage lived up to its billing as a day when the overall contenders would go head to head.
And Jumbo-Visma’s Vingegaard, who was 39 seconds adrift of Pogacar in third, burst clear for the 25-year-old’s first Tour stage win, atop Col du Granon.
The Dane leads by more than two minutes with Pogacar narrowly further back.
Asked if he could believe he had taken the yellow jersey, he replied: “No, it is really incredible. It is hard for me to put words on.
“This is what I always dreamt of, a stage in the Tour and now the yellow jersey.”
French climber Romain Bardet now sits second in the general classification with the 2018 champion Geraint Thomas fourth, just four seconds behind double Tour winner Pogacar, who drops to third.
The Slovenian had appeared untroubled after fending off several attacks on the the penultimate climb, the Col du Galibier, as the race reached its highest point at an altitude of 2,642m.
However, his confident smiles for the television cameras at the foot of the final 11km climb turned into grimaces as he cracked badly with around 4.5km remaining to concede almost three minutes.
Bardet’s break set the wheels in motion with Vingegaard also accelerating away from Pogacar, who had spent much of the stage isolated.
The absence of key mountain lieutenant George Bennett – a withdrawal with Covid on Tuesday – and Rafal Majka’s seemingly worsening condition, ensured Pogacar had little help from team-mates in limiting his losses on the climbs.
Britain’s Thomas also capitalised by riding clear of the 23-year-old, who was also passed by David Gaudu and Adam Yates before rolling dejectedly over the line.
“I suffered all the way to the end,” Pogacar said.
“I don’t know what happened. At the Galibier I was still so good. I got lot of attacking from Jumbo-Visma. Then, in the last climb I just didn’t have good legs.
“It is not over yet. He got three minutes today, maybe tomorrow it’s me who gets three minutes. We will fight until the end.”
Stage 11 results
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 4hrs 18mins 02secs
2. Nairo Quintana (Col/Arkea Samsic) +59secs
3. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM) +1min 10secs
4. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +1min 38secs
5. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +2mins 04secs
6. Adam Yates (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 10secs
7. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 51secs
8. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +3mins 38secs
9. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +3mins 59secs
10. Warren Barguil (Fra/Arkea Samsic) +4mins 16secs
General classification after stage 11
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 41hrs 29mins 59secs
2. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM +2mins 16secs
3. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 22secs
4. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 26secs
5. Nairo Quintana (Col/Arkea Samsic) +2mins 37secs
6. Adam Yates (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +3mins 06secs
7. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +3mins 13secs
8. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Bora-Hansgrohe) +7mins 23secs
9. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +8mins 07secs
10. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +9mins 29secs
BBC SPORT.
A.I
Tags: Jonas Vingegaard Tadej Pogacar
