Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) said he probably produced the “best one-minute performance” of his career on the explosive finale to Rouen on stage four of the Tour de France, where he and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) once again proved they were on a different level to the competition.

On the very tough climb of the Rampe Saint-Hilaire, about 5km from the finish, we witnessed a now familiar scenario: world champion Pogacar attacked with all his might, with Vingegaard the only one capable of resisting him while all the others were literally swept away.

For a moment it looked like Vingegaard was giving up, when he spun back and lost a few meters, but he gritted his teeth and managed to get back on his rival's wheel on the GPM. On Pogacar's favorite terrain, the Dane proved he was up to the challenge.

"With 50 meters to go the cobbles were too steep, but they were also too steep for Pogacar to slow down," Vingegaard explained on the team bus. "I've said before that I'm more explosive this year and honestly I think I showed that on the climb - it was probably my best one-minute performance ever. The condition is good and I'm looking forward to the next few days."

Despite finishing third in the sprint behind Pogacar and van der Poel, Vingegaard can be satisfied that he almost matched the Slovenian's violent acceleration, knowing that his favourite terrain is yet to come in the second and third weeks of the Tour.

"It was a brutal finale, with a lot of small climbs. I can be happy with how I felt, how I rode and how the team rode," concluded the Dane, confirming his improved skills as a finisher while remaining realistic about his limits in the sprint.

Sprint Cycling Photo