Countdown to the Tour de France: 1 Day | Vingegaard cracks Pogacar on the Col du Granon

Finally, we are one day away from the start of the 2025 Tour de France. A year on from last year’s start in Florence, the riders are all now in Lille for the start of the 2025 edition tomorrow. We simply cannot wait for the action to get started.

In today’s Tour de France countdown article, we revisit one of the defining showdowns of modern cycling: the moment Jonas Vingegaard and Team Jumbo-Visma cracked Tadej Pogacar on Stage 11 of the 2022 Tour de France. This brutal Alpine stage up the Col du Granon marked a turning point in the sport’s premier rivalry. Pogacar, a two-time Tour champion at just 23, had seemed nearly invincible, until that fateful day. What unfolded on the Granon’s steep slopes not only decided the 2022 Tour, but also set the stage for an intense rivalry that has continued through 2023, 2024, and will surely continue again in 2025.

Let’s go back to what is arguably the greatest Tour de France stage we have ever seen.

Leading up to that 2022 clash, Tadej Pogacar was on top of the cycling world. The Slovenian prodigy had stunned everyone by winning the 2020 Tour in dramatic fashion and then confirming his class with a commanding title defence in 2021.

By the first week of the 2022 Tour, he was again in superb form, winning multiple stages and carrying the yellow jersey. On Stage 7 at La Planche des Belles Filles, Pogacar snatched a thrilling victory on the brutal gravel climb, just as it seemed Vingegaard finally had got the better of him. He led the race and had barely shown a hint of weakness. Most observers felt that Pogacar was a level above the rest, and was well on his way to securing a third yellow jersey in a row.

Yet one rider had begun to quietly challenge that aura: Jonas Vingegaard. The young Dane emerged as a revelation in the 2021 Tour when he stepped up after his teammate Primoz Roglic crashed out. Vingegaard not only finished second overall in 2021, but on Mont Ventoux he achieved something unprecedented, he dropped Pogacar on a long climb.

Although Pogcčar recovered on the descent, Vingegaard later reflected to Cycling Weekly, “on the Mont Ventoux stage I gained a lot of confidence when I dropped him. That day I got the confidence that basically nobody can drop me anymore”. It was a glimpse that the seemingly unbeatable champion could be vulnerable.

Heading into 2022, Vingegaard was armed with this belief, and Jumbo-Visma arrived with a dual-leader strategy (Vingegaard alongside 2020 runner-up Roglic) determined to finally dethrone Pogacar.

All the simmering tension exploded on Stage 11 of the 2022 Tour: a 151.7 km route through the Alps from Albertville to the towering Col du Granon, which stands at 2,412 m elevation. Jumbo-Visma chose this unforgiving stage to execute an aggressive, all-or-nothing plan. The onslaught began far from the finish, on the Col du Télégraphe and the mighty Galibier, 90 km from the line. One by one, Roglic and Vingegaard took turns attacking Pogacar at a distance, forcing him and his UAE Team to chase repeatedly. Pogacar initially matched each move, even finding the energy to grin and wink at TV cameras on the Galibier, a sign of confidence that suggested he was coping with the pressure. For a while, the defending champion appeared as resilient as ever, showing no cracks despite the onslaught from Visma.

It all changed on the final climb to the finish, the Col du Granon, an 11.3 km ascent averaging 9% gradient into thin air. With about 5 kilometers remaining, Vingegaard launched one more vicious attack on a steep section.

This time, Pogacar could not respond.

In an instant, the race leader’s expression turned from calm to distress; the smile was wiped off his face as he began to drift backwards. Pogacar unzipped his jersey, desperately gulping for air, his cadence faltering.

And at last it was happening: Pogacar was cracking

One by one, his rivals, Geraint Thomas, David Gaudu, Nairo Quintana, Romain Bardet, rode past the struggling man in yellow. On the unforgiving slopes of the Granon, the narrative of this era of cycling changed forever.

Up the road, Jonas Vingegaard was surging toward glory. He flew past the remnants of the day’s breakaway and soloed over the summit finish to win the stage in spectacular fashion. In doing so, he seized the maillot jaune from Pogacar’s shoulders. Jumbo-Visma executed their plan, to absolute perfection.

Vingegaard later credited his team’s bold plan and Roglic’s selfless effort for the victory, noting how his teammate “fought for it” and went deep to destabilize Pogacar’s Covid-depleted UAE squad. The result was a tactical masterpiece: by stage end, Vingegaard had turned a 39-second deficit into a lead of over two minutes on GC, while Pogačar staggered in seventh, nearly three minutes behind.

In the immediate aftermath, Pogacar was candid about his bad day. “I came under attack and they harassed me... Suddenly in the Granon I didn’t feel good,” he admitted, acknowledging that Jumbo-Visma were the better team on the day. Y

et the humbled champion remained defiant in defeat. “It’s not over yet, I’ll keep fighting until the end,” Pogacar said, promising to try and reclaim time. And fight he did, the very next day on Alpe d’Huez, Pogacar attacked repeatedly, though Vingegaard marked him closely. Ultimately, Pogacar could not crack Vingegaard in the remaining stages of 2022, and the Granon attack proved decisive.

Stage 11 had flipped the Tour on its head: Vingegaard went from challenger to Tour de France leader in one blistering Alpine ascent, on route to his first maillot jaune in Paris.

That dramatic day on the Col du Granon not only decided the 2022 Tour, but also launched a new era of rivalry at the pinnacle of the sport. Jonas Vingegaard carried his advantage through the final week of the 2022 race to secure his maiden Tour de France victory, with Pogacar finishing second overall.

It was a changing of the guard, the first time Pogacar had ever been beaten in a Tour de France, and by a rider who proved to be his equal on the highest climbs. From that point forward, cycling had a duel reminiscent of past great rivalries, and fans eagerly anticipated a rematch.

In 2023, the Vingegaard vs. Pogacar showdown reached new heights. Pogacar, determined to avenge his loss, came out swinging in the Tour’s opening stages, despite having only just returned from injury, while Vingegaard stoutly defended his title. The two traded explosive attacks and stage wins in the mountains, distancing all other contenders.

For a while, the battle teetered back and forth, until the latter half of the race, when Vingegaard gained the upper hand once more. He cemented his supremacy with a dominant time trial and another Alpine offensive, ultimately winning his second straight Tour with Pogacar again as runner-up.

Pogacar experienced another crack on a high mountain stage in 2023 (on the Col de la Loze), later admitting it was “worse than the Col du Granon” in its brutality. Vingegaard’s back-to-back Tour triumphs confirmed that the balance of power had truly shifted, yet Pogacar’s tenacity in those races also showed that he remained a formidable threat, not a spent force.

The rivalry continued into 2024, where once again cycling’s two titans faced off in July for the sport’s biggest prize. That year, it was Vingegaard who came into the Tour unsure of his fitness after his Basque crash, and Pogacar romped to six stage wins and his third yellow jersey, reclaiming his throne. But, Vingegaard will be back this year, desperate to claim his third title.

Today, on the eve of the 2025 Tour de France, the echoes of the Col du Granon still resonate. It was on that climb in 2022 that Vingegaard proved Pogacar could bleed, and in doing so, ignited a fierce competition that has defined the sport’s last few seasons. Pogacar’s early dominance and Vingegaard’s breakthrough have now evolved into a rivalry for the ages, one marked by mutual respect, alternating triumphs, and relentless intensity.

This year, both riders come to the Tour with two of the strongest squads ever assembled. Pogacar will be supported by the likes of Almeida, Adam Yates and Tim Wellens, whilst Vingegaard has Simon Yates, Jorgenson, Kuss and Wout van Aert to support him along the way.

Of course, the Tour isn’t just about Pogacar and Vingegaard. But, if the likes of Remco Evenepoel or Primoz Roglic are to get closer to the winners of the last five Tour’s, they will certainly have their work cut out.

As we count down the final hours to the 2025 Tour, cycling fans around the world are anticipating the next chapter of this duel. Will Pogacar be able to secure his fourth Tour de France title? Or will Jonas Vingegaard turn the tables once again and take back his title?