A mountain stage at the Tour de France usually means Durango’s Sepp Kuss will be near the front, and that’s what happened on Thursday.
Kuss, Visma-Lease a Bike’s mountain domestique for Visma general classification rider Jonas Vingegaard, finished 10th in Stage 6 of the Tour on Thursday, his first top-10 finish of this year’s Tour.
Vingegaard and Kuss stuck with GC favorite Tadej Pogačar for the first part of the race until Pogačar made a surprise early attack that decimated the field. Vingegaard and Kuss had no response as Pogačar dominated by 2:38 to retake the yellow jersey and the general classification lead.
“It wasn’t the day I had hoped for,” Vingegaard said in a Visma press release. “It was a very tough day. When Pogacar attacked on the Tourmalet, I stuck to my own pace. However, the descent towards the final climb did not suit me, and I lost a lot of time there. It wasn’t my best day on the bike. I am disappointed, but that’s the way it is.”
On Thursday, the cyclists rode 186.2 kilometers from Pau, France, to Gavarnie-Gèdre, France. It was a relatively mild start with two categorized climbs and a sprint. However, the stage ended with three massive climbs, including a Category 1, Category 2 and the Col du Tourmalet, a climb so steep it’s beyond the one through four categorization.
Two riders formed a small breakaway early in the race, but they were caught before the second categorized climb with about 110 km left. Ben O’Connor separated from the pack on the third categorized climb to earn some King of the Mountain points. Other riders did the same on the next climb as they fought for points, but Pogačar and Vingegaard were content in the peloton, not too far behind.
Once the riders started climbing the Col du Tourmalet, Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates – XRG squad sprung into action, leading the race and cutting down the lead group to 13 riders, including Vingegaard and Visma.
Pogačar and UAE surprised the lead group with an attack on Col du Tourmalet with about 43 km left in the stage. Vingegaard tried to chase Pogačar and his UAE teammate, Isaac del Toro, but Pogačar went off the front solo and at the top of the Col du Tourmalet, Vingegaard was down by 30 seconds.
Vingegaard had no response for Pogačar as he rode away into the distance and crossed the finish line as the undisputed top rider in the world, with Vingegaard finishing in solo second.
“Before the stage, our plan was to have someone in the early breakaway so that Jonas would have support after the Tourmalet,” Visma Racing Director Marc Reef said. “That did not work out … On the Tourmalet, Jonas settled into his own pace after Pogacar’s attack and stayed within ten seconds for a long time … He continued to fight all the way to the finish, but he could no longer limit the gap.”
Pogačar won Stage 6 in four hours, 32 minutes and seven seconds. Vingegaard was 2:38 behind and Del Toro finished third, 2:57 behind. Kuss’ 10th place was 3:06 behind as the second-best Visma rider. Fellow Durango rider Quinn Simmons finished the stage in 61st, 31:25 behind Pogačar.
Stage 5 on Wednesday was a sprinter’s stage, a flat 158.3 km from Lannemezan, France, to Pau, France. Olav Kooij won the big sprint finish in 3:29:07. Pogačar finished 21st, 14 seconds behind Kooij. Vingegaard finished 53rd with the same time as Pogačar. Simmons finished 85th, 47 seconds behind and Kuss finished 88th with the same time.
After six stages of racing, Pogačar has a commanding lead over Vingegaard in the GC of 2:42. Kuss is 24th in the GC, 13:33 behind, and Simmons is 43rd, 40:15 behind.
Stage 7 will be another sprinters’ stage with 175.1 km from Hagetmau, France, to Bordeaux, France.