Jonas Vingegaard All but Clinches Tour de France With Win in Pyrenees

“I was just happy that it finally ended,” Vingegaard said of Thursday’s final mountain stage, the 18th of 21 days of racing in the Tour. “It was incredibly hard, but of course I was really, really happy to win the stage.”

There had been two moments of drama on the descent before the big climb as Pogacar, looking for any opening, and Vingegaard, watching his every move, zipped downhill together. First Vingegaard, negotiating a gravelly road, wobbled and nearly fell, one foot popping out of his pedals to keep his balance.

A moment later, Pogacar did fall, but he immediately climbed back on his bike, seemingly not too worse for wear. Vingegaard slowed to allow him to catch up, a show of sportsmanship acknowledged by a touch of hands between the rivals when Pogacar reached him again.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/sports/cycling/tour-de-france-jonas-vingegaard.html