"Jonas fought all the way to the line" - Marc Reef defends Vingegaard's performance despite a blow out on Tourmalet
CyclingFriday, 10 July 2026 at 03:00
Stage 6 of the Tour de France 2026 delivered one of the first major blows in the general classification. Tadej Pogacar showcased his strength in the high mountains and opened a gap of more than two minutes on Jonas Vingegaard, a heavy hit to the Visma | Lease a Bike leader’s ambitions. However, the Dutch team highlighted the Dane’s attitude and argued his performance was shaped by how the stage unfolded.
Marc Reef, Visma’s sports director, assessed his leader’s ride at the finish and acknowledged disappointment with the result, while stressing Vingegaard’s resilience in the face of the Slovenian’s attack.
"Today’s result is disappointing, but we saw a Jonas who fought all the way to the line and did everything he could to limit the gap to Pogacar," explained Reef. The sports director also underlined that the two-time Tour winner kept the chasing group at bay, avoiding even greater time losses.
The Dutch team’s initial plan did not go as expected. They tried to place a rider in the break to serve as support for Vingegaard in the decisive phase, especially after the Tourmalet. That move never materialised, and the team had to adapt to the race situation.
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The key moment came on the ascent of the iconic Pyrenean pass. When Pogacar attacked, Vingegaard chose not to respond immediately and rode his own pace. According to Reef, that decision allowed the Dane to keep the gap under control for several kilometres.
Second mountain day and Visma leave their leader isolated again
"Jonas managed to hold the gap at around ten seconds for quite some time," said the race director of the Dutch outfit. However, in the final section of the Tourmalet, roughly two kilometres from the summit, the Dane’s tempo dipped slightly and the UAE Team Emirates rider’s advantage began to grow.
🇫🇷 #TDF2026
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) July 9, 2026
💭”Jonas fought all the way to the finish and did everything he could to limit the gap to Pogacar.” - Marc Reef
Read more in our race report! ✍️https://t.co/EGxLqObGF2 pic.twitter.com/38STw83Hxy
From that point, Vingegaard defended his position alone, trying to minimise losses both on the descent and on the final climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre. Though the effort wasn’t enough to prevent a significant deficit to Pogacar, Reef insisted the Danish champion’s attitude was positive.
"From there he fought all the way to the line, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to keep the gap smaller," concluded the Visma director, who is confident Vingegaard can find better legs as the race progresses.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Pog looked exhausted at the finish too, though of course happy., and he admitted to Del Toro that he had been on his limit at one point. It's like people are watching different races sometimes, but I guess that's the human experience.Hills3310-07-2026
- Massive respect for Jonas yesterday he dug in and limited losses which could have been even more. I feared for him on the descent of the Tourmalet, for the first couple of kms he did not look in control.slappers6610-07-2026
- LOL! What about now after stage six?MajorPayne10-07-2026
- Remco still doesn't understand team tactics. Lipo was more than 20 seconds ahead at the top. He needs to sit back behind the Lidl riders and the others and save his energy. If the other riders close the gap, he needs to put evertyhing in one lethal attack and time trial home alone. If the others don't catch up, Lipo, his teammate, gains on all but Seixas and del Toro. He can sit in the third group for most of the final ascent with an excuse and then attack them with a few kilometres to go and gain time on everyone but Lipo, del Toro and Seixas. A double win for Red Bull. Instead, he makes sure all of them arrive at the same time. What a selfish idiot. Lipo has beaten him every time over the past year when they met. What an arrogant idiot. Sorry to describe this so lengthily - this is not for the fans (they all get this). This is for Remco, the only one that doesn't get it.MaMu10-07-2026
- yeah what is he upset about? he finished in front of Sepp.mij10-07-2026
- yeah really great point. Lipo crested the summit well ahead of Remcomij10-07-2026
- There are levels in sports and these levels are not fixed, sometimes someone is at level 5, sometimes 2, sometimes 8... but if you have an opponent, from outer space, who is at level 10 from February 2024 on, and you don't have a capacity to ever be at level 10, then what else do we have to talk about?? PS: Usually if you see Pogi all in white before the start, you can immediately place a good bet... for big € !!!mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales10-07-2026
- It's well known that antipodeanpedalfan is a Pogi hater so I have no words for him. Maybe Vingegaard will declare again in 2027 that he is back to his best level, just like before Hautacam 2025 and Tourmalet 2026. I'm really curious which legendary mountain ASO will design for 2027 where Jonas will be only 2 minutes behind. Yesterday Vingegaard learned what that legendary phrase means when someone "gets too close to the sun,"... they usually get burned.He thought that he is the☀️ but Giro knows how to trick a person's psyche. Vini,Vini, yesterday he learned the hard way.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales10-07-2026
- OMG! I can't even laugh anymore at the nonsense you write.MajorPayne10-07-2026
- It was not much different. UAE drove and dropeed their leaders and the Pogi got ~> 5 min gap on all their ridersabstractengineer10-07-2026
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