TOUR DE FRANCE 2024 | STAGE 11 | ÉVAUX-LES-BAINS > LE LIORAN
LE LIORAN, France (July 10, 2024) — Stage 11 of the 2024 Tour de France was won by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) after a superb ride in the Massif Central, as he just beat his great rival Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) to the finish line at Le Lioran. Pogačar took the race to Vingegaard with an attack on the Puy Mary-Pas de Peyrol, with the Dane ultimately able to respond to and match the Slovenian, eventually just beating the man in the Yellow Jersey to the finish in a thrilling conclusion to the stage. They were followed over the line 25” later by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) in third place, whilst Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) recovered from a late crash to finish fourth, 55” behind the leading pair. The result means Pogačar remains in control in the GC, now 1’06” in front of Evenepoel, with Vingegaard third (+1’14”) and Roglič fourth (+2’45”).
A high pace from the start
Following the withdrawal before the stage due to illness of Tim Declercq (Lidl – Trek), there were 171 riders on the start line in Evaux-les-Bains, with the peloton ready for a challenging 211 km route across the rugged Massif Central and 4,350 metres of vertical gain ahead of them. Anticipating that a strong breakaway could prosper and potentially win at the finish line, the first two hours of the stage produced a relentless series of attacks and were completed at a remarkable average speed of 47.1 km/h on the hilly parcours. This high pace claimed two victims, namely Ion Izagirre and Alexis Renard. Both Cofidis cyclists were already affected by illness and injury respectively, meaning they were dropped – and ended up abandoning as the peloton powered ahead.
Fierce fight for breakaway
As the battle to establish a breakaway raged on, Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) was first in the intermediate sprint at Bourg-Lastic (IS, km 65). It was not until km 76 that the determined Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies) managed to outwit the peloton. By the time they reached the top of the Côte de Mouilloux (Cat. 4, km 79.8) Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) and Oier Lazkano (Movistar Team) had joined them. Lazkano topped the Mouilloux first and the peloton were still only 12” behind the leading six riders, with UAE Team Emirates, Visma-Lease to Bike and Ineos Grenadiers controlling things. The main group would relax somewhat on the Côte de Larodde (Cat. 3, km 89.7), where five men set out on a quest to join the riders at the head of the race: those five being Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale), Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ), Guillaume Martin and Axel Zingle (Cofidis). Carapaz was first on the Larodde summit, where the five pursuers would arrive 40” later and the peloton were 1’30” adrift of the front men. Although Zingle sat up, the other four counterattackers managed to join up with the six in front, to make it a consolidated breakaway of ten at km 101 of the stage.
UAE control the breakaway
A maximum gap of 2’30” between the leaders and the bunch was recorded at km 111, which was the moment chosen by the UAE Team Emirates to control the the breakaway. The threat became clear on the approach to the climb of the Col de Néronne, with the selection already becoming very severe within the peloton, which left the likes of Romain Bardet and Geraint Thomas behind. At the head of the race, Lazkano was responsible for reducing the competition around him and was only accompanied by Healy when he reached the summit of the Col de Néronne.
The race explodes
Starting the ascent to Puy Mary-Pas de Peyrol, a Lazkano-Carapaz-Healy trio came back together, but with hope fading and their lead reduced to 30”. Irish rider Healy was the last to hold out, but he was caught 1 km from the summit by a main group reduced to 10 riders. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) went on the offensive 600 meters from the summit, 32 kilometers from the finish line. He created a gap of 5” on Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) at the top, which he expanded to 30” on the descent, but he was unable to defend the lead on the climb to the Col de Pertus. 100 meters from the top, the Yellow Jersey was joined by his Danish rival, whom he still beat to the summit to grab the 8” bonus point. The Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) duo were 45’’ behind by that point. On the final climb Pogačar and Vingegaard ascended together, with Vingegaard ultimately able to finish the job at the finish at Le Lioran.
Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease A Bike): “Now I Believe That I Can Win”
“This is of course a very emotional win for me. Coming back from a crash, it means a lot to me after all I went through in the last few months. Winning makes me think of that. I would have never been able to do this without my family. They supported me tremendously. My wife has played a big part in my comeback. It’s only been three months from those two weeks I spent in hospital, because I was just too injured. I’m just happy to be here. I couldn’t follow Tadej Pogačar’s attack. It was a very strong one. I had to fight to come across. I didn’t think I’d be able to make it but I did. I’m a bit surprised that I could beat him in the sprint. Three months ago, I couldn’t think I’d be here fighting for a win. It is incredible that I’m back at this level in order to win a stage of the Tour de France and play for the GC. To be honest, I’m surprised. I never thought I could come back to this level. I knew I was going to be good, but not this good. Coming to the Tour de France, I had a lot of doubts and I would have never dreamt of winning a stage. Now I believe that I can win the Tour de France. Normally, I reach my highest level in the second and third week of racing. I hope this year I’ll do the same.”
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty): “It Was A Super Crazy Pace”
“Today the pace was crazy to be honest. Even to stay in the peloton was unbelievably hard, so today to be honest I really feel my legs. I was just trying to hang on and stay as long as possible, it was a super crazy pace. Before the intermediate sprint we were still together and I said ‘Ok, I need to sprint now’ but my legs were already burning. So I’m super happy that the break went. Today I think was the toughest day that we had in the last 10 days. For me to be honest climbing is not a big problem. I always chose the best possible gruppetto. Here today there were already quite a lot of guys dropped and they (the team) said it’s not the best to drop now. I just kept going and I dropped on the start of the first hard climb. Then I just rode my bike so easily and saved the watts.”
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step): “I Am Well Placed To Stay On The Podium”
“It was impossible to follow when Tadej Pogačar attacked. I was at the limit and there was too much distance left to go for me to put myself in the red. At the same time, he took a 40” advantage, it wasn’t two or three minutes. In the end Jonas was the smartest and he was very strong. They both played in another division. I found myself with Primož Roglič and we worked to try to fill in, I think I took more slack than him. Then we went through a very slippery corner and he fell, so I went for 3rd place in the stage. In the end I did well, I rode at my own pace and I think it was the right decision. Now I have widened the gap on everyone behind Primož, so I am well placed to stay on the podium, which is good for my first Tour. I just have to keep the confidence and be there from Saturday. In the Pyrenees and the Alps, we will have longer, less explosive climbs than today. Maybe this will suit me better and I can try something. I’m going to fight, in any case.”
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “I Wasn’t Expecting Such A Strong Sprint From Jonas”
“It has been a very good day. My team did a super job. I felt good in the Puy Mary and tried to pull off a long-range attack. I was feeling pretty good on the descent, too, until my bike slipped and went sideways. I lost a bit of confidence there and I feel I spent too much energy on the following kilometres on the way to the Col de Pertus. Jonas did a great effort there to bridge back with me, proving that he is in top shape. I waited a bit as I wanted to sprint and secure the bonus seconds at the summit. Afterwards, I knew the last climb was not hard enough to launch a new attack, so I waited for the final sprint. I made a little mistake there, as I was not expecting this kind of finish and I didn’t know in the last few hundred metres. I wasn’t expecting such a strong sprint from Jonas, either. I don’t think I lost any psychological battle. I beat him on the first climb, and then he came back on the second one. We are pretty even. Now all I need is to keep this solid gap going into the Pyrenees. The climbs there will be quite different and more suited to the kind of efforts I’ve done in training to prepare for the Tour de France. It’s going to be a close battle, and very beautiful to watch. I’m sure nobody has any doubts anymore about how good a shape Jonas is in. We can’t forget Remco [Evenepoel] and Primož [Roglič] – even if they lost some time today, they’ll be up there.”
TOUR DE FRANCE 2024 | STAGE 11 | ÉVAUX-LES-BAINS > LE LIORAN | DAILY STATS
1-2: VINGEGAARD AND POGAČAR REUNITE
For the 16th time in their career and for the 8th time in a Tour de France stage, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar come 1st and 2nd. The last time was in last year’s Tour, when the Dane won the individual time trial in Combloux 1’38’’ ahead of the Slovenian. In 2022, Vingegaard put 1’04’’ to Pogačar at Hautacam. Pogačar had won the other 5 stages where they came 1st and 2nd, with minimal gaps:
- 3’’ in Saint-Lary-Soulan (2021)
- 2’’ in Luz Ardiden (2021)
- same time at La Super Planche des Belles Filles (2022)
- same time at Peyragudes (2022)
- 24’’ at Cauterets-Cambasque (2023)
4: VINGEGAARD, 4 MONTHS LATER
When he lined up in Florence for the Grand Départ of the Tour 2024, Jonas Vingegaard hadn’t pinned a bib number in the last 85 days, since he crashed out of the Itzulia Basque Country with several injuries. The first few days of the Tour gave first indications regarding his current strength and he claims his 8th win of the year, exactly 4 months after the last one, when he sealed the overall victory of Tirreno-Adriatico on 10 March. This is also his 4th victory in the Tour, after Col du Granon (2022), Hautacam (2022) and Combloux (2023).
1-2-3: EVENEPOEL JOINS THE PARTY
Stage 11 of the Tour 2024 was the 21st race day featuring Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel in the same peloton… And for the first time they took the first 3 places at the finish. They already came close in the Gevrey-Chambertin ITT, won by Evenepoel ahead of Pogačar and Roglič, with Vingegaard finishing 4th.
1: POGAČAR’S FIRST
He has won 2 Tours, 12 stages, conquered 30 Maillots Jaunes, 8 polka-dot jerseys… But Tadej Pogačar receives the combativity award for the first time of his career with his attack 32km away from the finish. The green jersey is the only prize missing from his Tour collection. Only one active rider has claimed the yellow, green and polka-dot jerseys: Julian Alaphilippe.
182: WRIGHT’S LONG LOST BATTLE
Struggling with physical issues, Fred Wright found himself alone at the back after only 29km. The British champ still had 182km to go to, alone, and he never gave up but it was too much for him to make it inside the time-cut of 53’13’’. As Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line, Wright was still 31.4 kilometres away. He needed to average 35.4km/h over that stretch to survive but he eventually finished 8 minutes too late.
10: EVENEPOEL, A NEW ICON FOR THE YOUTH
After Tadej Pogačar’s reign over the best young rider standings in the past four Tour de France, the white jersey has found a new owner: Remco Evenepoel, who’s been leading the standings for 10 days now. Apart from Pogačar, who collected 72 white jerseys in a row from 2020 until 2023, the last rider who had led the best young rider standings for so long was Pierre Latour when he won in 2018 after 12 days in white.
Evenepoel also claimed 22 white jerseys in La Vuelta and 4 in the Giro, for a totally of 36 best young rider jerseys in Grand Tours.
8: POGAČAR’S POLKA DANCES
After Jonas Abrahamsen matched Ludo Peeters’ record leading the KOM standings from stage 1 until stage 10, Tadej Pogačar takes the polka-dot jersey for the 8th time of his career. He led the standings 3 times in 2020 and 4 in 2021. He won the final standings in both these editions. As Pogačar will wear the Maillot Jaune on day 12, Abrahamsen will still shine with the polka dots.
