A fierce battle among the top contenders unfolded on the slopes of the Col de la Croix de Fer, the penultimate climb of the day. Campenaerts, Jorgenson, and Kuss—who had dropped back from the breakaway—took turns increasing the pace. Heading into the final climb, Team Visma | Lease a Bike managed to create a numerical advantage at the front.

On that final ascent, Tadej Pogačar launched a decisive attack with twelve kilometers to go. Vingegaard had to let go momentarily but refused to crack. He continued at his own pace and held on strongly. At the finish, the gap to Pogačar was around fifteen seconds.

“It was a good ride from us today—we really animated the race as a team”, said Vingegaard afterwards. “I couldn’t follow Tadej’s attack. I chose my own tempo, and I’m happy with how it went. When he accelerated explosively, I had to let a gap open up. Tadej is more than a deserved winner. I saw the numbers I was pushing, and I’m satisfied with that. This race is helping me get better ahead of my big goal. Hopefully, the efforts from this week will allow me to take another step forward toward the Tour de France.”

Head of Racing Grischa Niermann also expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance. “It was a good day for us. Second place turned out to be the maximum achievable, and we saw a strong team effort. So it’s hard not to be pleased. We remain combative—there’s still a lot possible on the final stage. We have three riders in the top ten, so that certainly gives us something to build on”, said the German.