Tadej Pogacar laments ‘wasted bullet’ as motorbikes thwart attack of Jonas Vingegaard at Tour de France

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has expressed frustration over a “wasted bullet” as his attack of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on the slopes of the Col de Joux Plane was thwarted by a couple of motorbikes.

With just over a kilometre to the summit, where eight bonus seconds were on offer, Pogacar jumped off Vingegaard’s wheel and opened up a small gap but had to sit up as his path was blocked by a mass of spectators and two motorbikes.

Salt was rubbed into Pogacar’s wounds, as Vingegaard countered shortly before the summit to take the eight bonus seconds.

On the dash down to Morzine, Pogacar took second place behind stage winner Carlos Rodriguez – with Vingegaard in third – meaning the loss on the day was one second.

“It was a wasted bullet after already such big climbs,” Pogacar said. “To do one sprint for nothing is a bit of a shame, but I don’t think it’s going to change the final outcome. It stayed in the legs, and I couldn’t sprint for the bonus. Okay, I messed it up a little bit. But it is what is.”

“I think it was a good day for us. We were really strong, and we tried,” Pogacar said. “Okay, it was not a perfect day, but I think we saw a lot today, we learned a lot today and we go with positive mind into the next stages.

“Of course, it would be better if I dropped him and went solo to the finish line. But I must say today was a good day and I feel good, so I’ll go with a good mindset into the next days.”

Looking ahead to the final week, Pogacar said: “There are still four stages that can decide it. It’s going to be really tight, but I’m going confident into the next days.”

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