"The Tour de France is far from over" insists Visma DS despite Jonas Vingegaard's time loss on stage 14 to Tadej Pogacar

Jonas Vingegaard breathed new life into the Maillot Jaune fight at the 2024 Tour de France on stage 11 earlier this week. In the high mountains of stage 14 however, the Dane couldn't quite replicate that same form, slipping to nearly two minutes down on race leader Tadej Pogacar in the general classification.

“We knew that today was not the most suitable stage for us. The final was a bit more of a draw, which Jonas doesn’t like, just like that very long flat approach of seventy kilometres. In the past it has already become clear that Jonas prefers a whole day of up and down than a stage like this," reflects Team Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Arthur van Dongen in a post-stage interview with Sporza.

Nevertheless, van Dongen remains optimistic that Vingegaard can still complete a historic Maillot Jaune hat-trick at the Tour de France. "Of course you hope that you don’t lose any time, but that did happen. That is a blow, but the Tour is far from over. We remain positive and keep believing in it,” van Dongen insists. "Jonas did say that he felt really good, but there is someone else who is just a little bit better. You have to be realistic about that. The strongest has won. Tomorrow is a new day with new chances. Today we had to acknowledge our superior."

With stage 15 bringing another mountainous day and another stage likely to have big ramifications for the Maillot Jaune, can Vingegaard turn the momentum around again? “We have been riding with a plan for two weeks and the plan for the last week has also been drawn up. Of course, it is being fine-tuned a little every day, but we will not deviate from it too much. We know what our boys can and cannot do,” Van Dongen concludes. “The Tour is far from over. We still have many tough stages ahead of us and we know that the last week is the most important.”