“When these two guys passed him, it was like I wasn’t doing the same sport as them,” is how Tobias Haaland Johansen (Uno x Mobility) described being passed by Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Les A Bike) on the final climb after fighting for the win on Stage 15 of the Tour de France in the breakaway group.
Visma’s Mathieu Jörgenson led the Tour’s best climbers on the final ascent of the Plateau de Bel with a lead of 2:35 over the five-man group that had remained from the day’s break at the front. This group consisted of Johansen, Guy Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Enric Mas (Movistar), Lawrence De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyBoost).
However, after facing the infernal beast of 15.8km, the closest to stage winner Pogacar at the finish line was Olympic champion Carapaz, 5:41mins behind the race leader, with Johansen 6:27mins behind at the finish line.
Pogacar’s advantage was so great that even when third-placed on the day and overall leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) reached the finish line, he had already started warming up on his TT bike.
“We knew that Pogacar and Vingaard would eventually make it on the last climb, then it was just about winning the solo but I think Carapaz managed to do that,” said Johansen, who lost but was impressed by the two men who had won the last four Tour de France editions between them.
“For me, when these two guys pass, I feel like I’m not doing the same sport as them. They’re so good and you want to hate them, but they’re great guys and they make cycling such a fun sport, so it’s a bit difficult. [They are] “On another level.”
The Norwegian was no stranger to being outdone by Pogacar and Vingegaard having failed to win a first stage of the Tour behind only the stars on stage six of the 2023 Tour when the Slovenian won in Kuterec-Kampask.
It was a big day for Johannessen as he managed to make one of the many moves launched on the hellish 197.7km route which was filled with nearly 5,000m of elevation gain, however, he felt he had run out of energy after missing a key split on the Col d’Agnes with 73km to go.
“It was good for me to be in the breakaway, that was the first goal. Then, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had a few guys and saw an opportunity before one of the last climbs to split the group. I was late, so I was a bit angry, but I used that aggression to connect with the group so I could fight for the win,” said the young Norwegian before admitting that the tactical battle up to the Plateau de Belle was over as they knew the win was over.
“Some people got a bit angry but the chance to win was gone and then we moved into a tactical phase where you just have to try to attack and be the last one caught.
“For me, my legs weren’t at their best after moving to the front group, so I knew it was over. In the end, it was just life.”
Johansen will now settle into his second rest day after two gruelling days in the Pyrenees in a row, with all eyes on the chase for Uno-X Mobility’s first win alongside his team-mates in the final six stages.
“Sleep as long as I want, have some cake and coffee, don’t think about riding a bike for a day, then go back to work,” he said of his plans for Monday.
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