“It is devastating that Jonas has had to leave the Tour de France,” sports director Marc Reef said after the stage. “It was quickly clear that Jonas could not continue. He was in a lot of pain. We are deeply with him.”

Further examinations revealed that Vingegaard sustained a broken collarbone and multiple abrasions. Due to the severity of the fracture, he will undergo surgery in the coming days.

In the final stage of the Vogezen trilogy, the riders faced another demanding mountain stage. Team Visma | Lease a Bike was active at the front once again, just as it had been yesterday. As a result, Bruno Armirail and Victor Campenaerts managed to join the breakaway with 95 kilometres remaining.

As the race headed towards the demanding final climb, Armirail and Campenaerts dropped back before setting a high pace in the group of favourites. While the team was doing strong work, Vingegaard crashed with twenty kilometres to go. The Dane was unable to continue and had to abandon the Tour de France.

Despite the setback, Reef saw a strong team performance until the moment of the crash. “The entire stage went according to plan. We had two riders in the breakaway and controlled the peloton. Jonas felt extremely good and we wanted to go for the victory today. Unfortunately, cycling can be very cruel at times.”