“Tadej is a good guy... very generous of him” – Jonas Vingegaard praises Pogacar after Tour de France rival gifts Isaac del Toro stage win
Cycling
Jonas Vingegaard was not surprised to see Tadej Pogacar give up the chance of victory on stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de France, even though the gesture helped UAE Team Emirates – XRG close the gap to his yellow jersey.
Isaac del Toro took the biggest win of his career in Barcelona after accelerating in the final kilometre on Montjuic, with Pogacar following and then choosing not to come past his teammate.
Vingegaard finished fourth on the stage, keeping yellow, but Pogacar’s second place and bonus seconds reduced the Dane’s overall lead to six seconds.
Speaking to TV2 after the finish, Vingegaard said Pogacar’s decision matched the impression he already had of his great rival. “I think Tadej is a good guy, and it is very generous of him to give a stage win to a teammate,” Vingegaard said.
Vingegaard: Del Toro “deserves it”
Pogacar’s decision meant Del Toro collected ten bonus seconds, while the world champion took six for second place. Remco Evenepoel squeezed into third and picked up four, leaving Vingegaard still in yellow but with the top of the general classification already tightening.
For Vingegaard, though, Del Toro’s victory was not only about Pogacar stepping aside. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader also praised the Mexican’s own performance after a finale dominated by UAE. “But Isaac also deserves it, to be honest,” Vingegaard added. “He is really talented and super strong.”
Del Toro had already played a key role before the final metres. UAE used their numbers on the Montjuic circuit, with Brandon McNulty and Adam Yates helping to shape the selection before Del Toro responded to a late move from Mattias Skjelmose and then drove towards the Olympic Stadium.
Pogacar stayed behind him rather than sprinting for the line, allowing UAE to complete a one-two finish while still cutting into Vingegaard’s advantage. “It was well ridden by both him and Pogacar,” Vingegaard said.
Pogacar closes gap without taking the win
The stage left the opening GC battle finely balanced after two days. Vingegaard remains in yellow thanks to Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s victory in the stage 1 team time trial, but Pogacar has already clawed back half of his initial deficit after the first road stage.
Evenepoel is now third overall at 15 seconds, while Del Toro has moved up to fourth at 16 seconds and taken the white jersey. UAE also leave Barcelona with a stage win, the team classification lead and another rider high in the overall standings behind Pogacar.
Vingegaard still has the jersey, but the gap is down to six seconds before the Tour reaches its first tougher climbing tests. Pogacar left Barcelona closer to yellow, Del Toro left with a dream Tour de France debut win, and UAE left with two riders already inside the top four overall.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 7visitors 7
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment