Vingegaard Conquers Col du Granon as Pogačar CRACKS!

Wow ... just wow.  I will not soon forget what I witnessed during Stage 11 of the 2022 Tour de France.  The seemingly unbreakable Tadej Pogačar was the victim of a brilliant strategy by Team Jumbo-Visma.  Pogačar was attacked early and often.  And when the GC leaders began their assault on Col du Granon, Pogačar was not at his elite best.  With less than 5 km (3 mi) left, Jonas Vingegaard, last year's runner up, went for the yellow jersey.  I grabbed a photo of the moment when the yellow jersey would change riders.

Vingegaard gave a look back to Pogačar and then rode a speed to the finish line that nearly doubled Pogačar's.  Instead of responding to Vingegaard's attack, Pogačar cracked with 4 km (2.5 mi) left.

I kept waiting for Pogačar to do what he has done so often in the past couple of years, and that was to kick his cycling up a notch and rejoin his attackers.  But it never happened.  Vingegaard rode hard across the finish line, eschewing a celebration for precious seconds.

As Vingegaard said after his win, it was a team effort, and Team Jumbo-Visma now has the yellow jersey on Vingegaard.

I thought yesterday that our prediction would be a fast one, but Vingegaard's push on the final climb gave us a good prediction.

• Stage 11:  4h 18' 02" (actual), 4h 12' 20" (prediction), 05' 42" fast (-2.21% error)

Check out Vingegaard's average speed.

• Stage 11:  9.80 m/s (35.27 kph or 21.92 mph)

That is an amazing average speed on such a tough stage.  Fans watch sports to be dazzled by elite athletes, and I was certainly dazzled today!

If today's stage was tough, tomorrow's 165.1-km (102.6-mi) mountain Stage 12 could be even more grueling.  Cyclists will begin in the French commune of Briançon, situated in the Alps in southeastern France, not too far from Italy, and then head northwest.  They will need to repeat what they did today, which is make the hors catégorie climb to the 2642-m (8668-ft) peak of Col du Galibier.  They will then face another hors catégorie climb, this time to the 2067-m (6781-ft) peak of Col de la Croix de Fer.  And finally, what I have been waiting for since the start of the race, they will finish with the famous hors catégorie climb nearly to the 1860-m (6102-ft) peak of Alpe d'Huez.  By the time the first of those glorious 21 hairpin turns is reached, what will the gaps be among the GC contenders?

Our prediction is given below.

• Stage 12:  4h 32' 56" (prediction)

I have no idea what will happen tomorrow.  The above time is fast, but who knows?  Will Pogačar fight back, or will he wait until the race is in the Pyrenees?  Whatever happens, I cannot wait to see the action unfold!