The relentless pace set by the squad on Tuesday did more than just platform ’s stage winning attack: it devastated many big names in the .

Several key riders found themselves dealing with big time losses after stage 4 of the race, cracking on the Col du Galibier and conceding time in the first serious day in the mountains.

Overnight race leader was one of the biggest casualties, slipping back early on and trailing in only 32nd, 5:10 back.

The EF Education–EasyPost rider received the backing of teammate Ben Healy in the chase but tumbled from first to 22nd overall, his yellow jersey and any GC hope gone.

Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) was another surprise, losing 11:44 after cracking early on. He had spoken earlier this year of wanting to chase a high overall result; that ambition is now over.

Dropping Seconds and Minutes

Pogacar’s Galibier surge and lightning descent opened solid time over every other rider in the field. Defending champion (Visma–Lease a Bike) handled his rival’s acceleration best, fighting to hold his wheel for several hundred meters and then going over the summit several seconds back.

However he yielded further ground on the descent, likely still nervous after his crash in April, and was caught by several others before the finish in Valloire.

(Soudal Quick-Step), who had started the day level on time with Carapaz, Pogačar and Vingegaard, was also there and won the sprint to the line, 35 seconds back. That earned him second place on the stage and ensured he ended the day second overall.

(Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) also finished in this group, a good turnaround after cracking on the climb but recouping time on the descent.

“That was enough. I am satisfied with today,” he said to RTV Slovenija, while admitting his form is not where he expected it to be.

“In the climb, I was battling with myself. Tadej set the pace, which was clearly the best thing for him.”

Still, he believes he can and will do more in this Tour. “I’m slowly getting better, I’m still here.”

Vingegaard and Ineos Grenadiers leader were fifth and sixth, conceding a further two seconds to the Evenepoel/Roglic group when a gap opened just before the line.

The latter is now his team’s undisputed leader, as both Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal finished 2:42 behind.

They won the race in 2018 and 2019 respectively, but unless one or both can regain significant time in a breakaway, they will be backing Rodríguez for the remainder of the race.

After going in with four possible leaders, Ineos Grenadiers is down to one.

Jorgenson, Yates Under Pressure

The devastation handed out by UAE Team Emirates put other big names in the red.

Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale leader Felix Gall also finished in the Thomas-Bernal group. American rider was similarly present.

Jorgenson, winner of Paris-Nice and second overall to Roglič in the Critérium du Dauphiné, was seen as a possible GC alternative if Vingegaard lacked fitness after his Itzulia crash.

He will now be fully committed to the resurgent Danish rider.

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) also finished in this selection. The Briton was third overall last year despite having ridden for Pogacar.

Some felt he could podium again after a dominant ride in the Tour de Suisse, but instead he is almost three and a half minutes adrift after four stages.

That’s down to an off day but his team boss Mauro Gianetti told Velo’s Andrew Hood after the finish that UAE Team Emirates still had a big day in the saddle.

“The plan was to see the level of each team, not only the leader of the team,” . “We wanted to see how many riders of each team could be at the top of the Galibier.

“The three leaders of Red Bull, the leaders of Ineos, and at Visma,” Gianetti said. “We put a very big pace to push.”

The goal was completely successful.

With Alesandr Vlasov and Jai Hindley losing 3:05 and 4:01 respectively, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe was another team which saw GC options reduced to just one rider.

They, Ineos Grenadiers and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have now just one contender each in the GC, with plan B’s and C’s out the window, barring a big breakaway comeback.

It was a day to remember for UAE Team Emirates in eliminating so many rivals. They will welcome that Tuesday evening, and so too the fact that Evenepoel and Vingegaard are the only riders who remain within a minute of Pogačar.

It may be only day four of the Tour but already all of the Slovenian’s rivals have a mountain to climb.

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pulled off a stunning stage win at the on Wednesday after dropping race leader on the slopes of the Col du Granon ascent. In doing so, the Danish leader seized the yellow race leader’s jersey from Pogacar, who finished almost three minutes in arrears.

Second on the stage went to Colombian rider Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), who crossed the line 59 seconds behind Vingegaard. France’s Romain Bardet (Team DSM) was at 1:10, 2018 Tour winner of Great Britain (Ineos Grenadiers) was at 1:38, and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Thomas’ teammate Adam Yates completed a scattered top six.

Pogacar trailed in a staggering 2 minutes, 52 seconds behind in seventh position. He slumped over his handlebars, exhausted, after crossing the line. With time bonuses factored in, Pogacar slipped to third overall 2:22 back, with Bardet now six seconds ahead of him in the general classification.

Vingegaard is now the first rider to have dropped Pogacar in a grand tour since the Slovenian wunderkind began racking up victories three years ago. Pogacar is the two-time Tour de France champion, and prior to Wednesday, had never been put under serious pressure at the world’s biggest bike race.

“I think it is really incredible. It is hard for me to put words on it,” Vingegaard said at the finish. “This is what I dreamt of always, a stage in the Tour and now the yellow jersey … incredible.”

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His Jumbo-Visma team was aggressive early on, putting Wout van Aert up the road in the opening miles of the race, and then attacking Pogacar repeatedly during the stage. Vingegaard and co-leader Primoz Roglic launched several one-two surges at the base of the Col du Telegraphe, forcing the Slovenian to chase both, and while Roglic subsequently cracked, Vingegaard ended the day with the benefits of that strategy.

“We made a plan from the start of the day. I guess obviously you could see what the plan was,” he explained. “We wanted to make a super-hard race. We thought it was in my favor and in the favor of Primoz.

“I took a lot of time today, but I never would have done that without my teammates. I really have to thank all of them. They were all incredibly strong today and I would never have done this without them.”

The decisive move came three miles from the finish line. Vingegaard admitted that his move was more in hope than expectation, a surge borne out of a determination to try rather than any perceived signs that Pogacar was about to crack.

“On the Galibier, over the top, he was really strong and he dropped everybody else. I was a bit insecure if he was going full or not,” he said. “Then on the last climb I was thinking if I don’t try I am not going to win.

“Of course a second place is a nice result in the GC, but I tried this last year. Now at least I want to try to go for the victory. And that’s what I did today. Luckily it succeeded today and now I have the yellow jersey.

Jonas Vingegaard renverse le Tour de France : le Danois remporte la 11e étape en solitaire et s’empare du maillot jaune.

— L’ÉQUIPE (@lequipe)

“I will just keep on fighting for yellow to Paris.”

Heading into the High Mountains

Stage 11 of the Tour de France was the first really big mountain stage of the race, a daunting 94-mile epic taking the riders from the town of Albertville to the summit finish of the Col du Granon and scaling two beyond-category ascents along the way.

After an early intermediate sprint, the riders faced the second category Lacets de Montvernier, the first category Col du Télégraphe, the hors categorie Col du Galibier which, at 8,660 feet above sea level is the highest point of this year’s Tour, and then the final climb.

The Col du Granon was used only once before as a stage finish in the Tour, back in 1986 when Bernard Hinault had his last-ever day in the yellow jersey.

With that portent in mind, it was a day which promised a general classification shakeup. That is exactly how it would turn out.

Green jersey Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and longtime rival Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Decuninck) were the first aggressors, clipping away immediately after the drop of the flag and holding a lead of 42 seconds by the intermediate sprint.

Van Aert took first there to boost his lead in the green jersey contest, while behind six chasers mopped up the points from third through to eighth, putting Van Aert’s closest rival Fabio Jakobsen further on the back foot. He was only tenth there, taking a mere six points to Van Aert’s 20.

Those chasers were reeled in soon afterwards but Mattia Cattaneo (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) was able to bridge to Van Aert and Van der Poel at mile 18, with 17 others joining two miles later.

The additions were Mikaël Chérel (AG2R-Citroën), Nils Politt and Max Schachman (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andrea Bagioli (Quick Step), Simon Geschke and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Kamil Gradek and Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious), Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-Easypost), Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Mads Pedersen and Tony Gallopin (Trek-Segafredo), Maciej Bodnar and Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) and Van Aert’s Jumbo-Visma teammate Christophe Laporte.

Barguil was best-placed of those in the general classification but was little threat to Pogacar’s yellow jersey, having started the day 26th overall, 13 minutes and 33 seconds back. Yet he had another goal in mind.

Barguil Takes Aim for the Stage Win

Starting the foothills of the Lacets de Montvernier after 27 miles kiloeters of racing, the leaders were 3:10 ahead of the bunch. Van der Poel was dropped soon after the start of the climb and would retire from the race an hour later.

Latour led Geschke, Barguil and Van Aert across the top, a result that saw Geschke extend his lead in the King of the Mountains classification. The group was 7:20 ahead of the peloton with 48 miles remaining.

Bodnar and others were dropped on the Col du Télégraphe as Barguil began the process of thinning things down. He reduced the group to 11 riders while helping to boost their lead over the peloton to nine minutes with two miles to the summit.

He rolled over the top second there behind Latour and just ahead of Geschke and Chérel.

Behind, Roglic showed the aggressive intentions of the Jumbo-Visma team by attacking hard. He drove the pace down the descent of the Télégraphe and this created a selection, with Pogacar, Vingegaard, Pierre Laporte and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) going clear with him.

Jumbo-Visma continued firing on the Galiber, with Vinegaard and Roglic taking it in turns to attack the race leader. Pogacar covered each move and put in some digs of his own, with a temporary stalemate then breaking out.

Up front, Chérel played his hand 40 miles from the finish but didn’t get far. Van Aert, Geschke, Barguil and Latour then pushed ahead and were joined by Teuns, with Barguil then making his big move three miles from the top.

More Attacks on the Race Leader

The general classification contenders had regrouped behind but Roglic threw down the gauntlet again and made another probing surge, which was counted by Pogacar. Vingegaard marked him and further attacks followed before Roglic was dropped.

Bardet and Thomas also went south, with Pogacar and Vingegaard continuing together before yet another regrouping.

Barguil didn’t have to worry about any stop/start racing and continued a high tempo out front, netting the Souvenir Henri Desgrange prize by crossing the Col du Galibier first. He was 50 seconds clear of closest-chaser Geschke, with Latour at 1:25 and Van Aert close by but deciding to wait for his teammates.

With 18 miles remaining the Pogacar group was 4:40 behind Barguil. In addition to the race leader there were four Jumbo-Vismas, namely Vingegaard, Van Aert, Steven Kruijswijk and Sepp Kuss, as well as Ineos duo Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates, Romain Bardet (Team DSM), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic).

Roglic had been dropped and was in a group with David Gaudu and other Groupama-FDJ riders, but Van Aert went back to those and helped them to return.

The yellow jersey group was 5:15 behind Barguil at that point but reduced its deficit on the final climb to 3:35 with six miles remaining.

The day’s big drama was about to play out.

Vingegaard Flies, Pogacar Fades

Quintana was feeling good and kicked clear from the yellow jersey group on the concluding climb of the Col du Granon. He caught and passed Geschke, and was 1 minute 52 seconds behind teammate Barguil with just under four miles to the top.

Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates) had been in trouble on the Galibier, but had rallied and was leading the Pogacar group with three miles left.

Bardet then kicked things off with a big attack. Vingegaard surged several minutes later, with Majka trying to lead Pogacar up to him but easing back when he realized his team leader was being dropped. Barguil was caught and left by Quintana with two miles remaining; Vingegaard then caught and dropped Bardet, and opened an ever-increasing gap over Pogacar and Thomas.

The yellow jersey had completely exploded and was soon on his own, following a lonely, losing path to the summit. Vingegaard was on a charge and sped past Quintana with two miles left, becoming the leading rider on the road. He had also just become the virtual yellow jersey, with Pogacar 40 seconds back at that point and slipping to 1:29 in arrears a few miles later.

The young Slovenian continued to fade from there, being passed by Gaudu and Yates, and eventually crossed the line a distant seventh, 2:51 behind the new race leader.

It was a huge blow and while the Tour isn’t over, it’s been shaken up in a way very few expected.

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Australian rider took an emotional stage win Wednesday, months after Israel-Premier Tech handed him a lifeline contract.

The 35-year-old won stage five of the Tour de France from the day’s early break.

went close to losing the race leader’s yellow jersey to American rider (EF Education-EasyPost), a feat that would have marked the first US rider in the maillot jaune since 2006.

Van Aert crashed during a chaotic stage and was then forced to drop back to help his Jumbo-Visma team after was delayed. Another key rider from the team, , crashed and lost time, while Ben O’Connor (Ag2r Citroën) finished even further back after suffering mechanical issues early on.

In contrast, defending Tour champion (UAE Team Emirates) rode prominently during the stage and gained time on all of his rivals in the general classification

Check out Wednesday’s dramatic action on the cobbles in this highlights package

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