After their missed strategy on Thursday during the queen stage, the Visma | Lease a Bike was much calmer this Friday on the 19th stage of the Tour de France Between Albertville and La Plagne, the last in high mountains. Jonas Vingegaard So just followed Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in the final climb, responding to all the accelerations of the Slovenian, which was clearly aimed at winning the stage. But the two men never managed to resume Thymen Arensman (Ineos grenadiers), yet pointed at only fifteen seconds in the last kilometers. Finally, the Danish won the sprint opposing him to his Slovenian rival and finished in 2nd place, only two seconds behind Arensman.
VIDEO – Pugacar's reaction after this 19th stage of the Tour!
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“We wanted Jonas to play the stage victory”
The sports director of Dutch training, Grischa Niermannreturned to this raging final: “We knew that Tadej also wanted to win, and that UAE would control the breakaway. In the final rise, we did not want to attack too early, because we wanted Jonas to play the stage victory. He approached it, but in the end, he and Tadej launched their sprint a little too late. Jonas was again very strong. But Jonas was there and managed to stay in his wheel..
He continues on the last climb and the marking between the two rivals: “Maybe they could have resumed Arensman if Jonas had launched earlier, but Tadej would probably have been in his wheel and he could have beat him in the sprint. It is easy to say afterwards that Jonas should have attack a little earlier, but there is a good chance that Pogacar was in his wheel and that he exceeded him in the last meters. The last ascent, and it clearly played in our favor “he concludes.
