Tadej Pogačar on Tour de France Stage 5: ‘All is not lost’

Jonas Vingegaard showed he was the rider to beat at the 2023 Tour de France, with a powerful display that saw him put 1:04 into Tadej Pogačar on Wednesday. After the race, Pog was not in his usual jokester mood. Instead, he reflected on the day won by 2022 Giro winner Jai Hindley.

“Jonas just went way too fast in his attack,” he told Sporza. “But I still feel good.”

Watch Tadej Pogačar sass Wout van Aert hard after Stage 2 of the Tour de France

The Jumbo Visma rider launched from the wheel of Sepp Kuss, leaving Pog in his wake.

“I tried to follow as long as possible. But he was so strong, what an attack. I couldn’t do anything about that,” the Slovenian said. “All is not lost.”

Vingegaard lights it up to drop Pogačar ?

The @JumboVismaRoad rider put in a searing attack to finish over a minute ahead of Tadej Pogačar on Stage 5 of the Tour de France ?
_______________
?? #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/C4SioJ0hND

— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 5, 2023

The UAE-Emirates rider had a less-than-ideal preparation to the Tour, after a fall at Liège–Bastogne–Liège resulted in a broken wrist. He had to take time off the bike, missing valuable lead-up races and training.

Wout van Aert chirps back at Pogačar, dishes on Jasper Philipsen’s sprint

“I’ve had some training delays. I should be better in the final week. It’s a sacrifice, but I look at it day by day,” he added. “It wasn’t even such a difficult day, but Jonas went so fast. My legs were deflated a bit. But I still feel good, hopefully I’ll get better. I know my limits now and my motivation remains high.”

There will be no rest of the peloton on Thursday. Stage 6 is a 162.7-km race from Pau to Laruns, and includes the very tough Tourmalet climb.