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2024 Tour de France
29 June–21 July 2024
Jonas Vingegaard admits race leader Tadej Pogacar needs a bad day in the saddle if he is to win a third straight
Tour de France title with six stages remaining.
The Dane has emerged as Pogacar's main rival after dethroning him in 2022 following an impressive debut in the famous race one year prior when he came second.
Vingegaard again proved stronger in 2023 when he finished 7:29 ahead of the Slovenian in the general classification to record back-to-back Tour de France wins.
The 27-year-old took his first stage win on July 10 from Evaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran and led towards the final 5km on stage 15 before Pogacar pulled away to claim an astonishing victory.
Vingegaard still has a chance to be named King of the Mountains as he trails Pogacar by 19 points in the Mountains classification with three mountain stages to go.
Image copyright: Getty Images
The Visma–Lease a Bike rider hasn't given up hope of making up the 3:09 gap to his arch-rival in the final week, declaring himself proud of his performance at Plateau de Beille on July 14.
"Actually I'm proud of how I rode and how the team rode, the guys rode really strongly and we rode super hard," the Visma–Lease a Bike rider said.
"On the last climb I was feeling super strong, I think I did one of the best performances of my life. But Tadej was super strong - so I cannot really be disappointed.
"I think there is still a chance [to win it]. The Tour de France is still not finished and sometimes in the past two years, Tadej has had a bad day. We have to hope that can still happen.
"If he keeps up this level it'll be hard, but there are still chances. I'm not disappointed, I think this was one of the best performances of my life."
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