In the sixth stage of the Tour de France, Team Visma | Lease a Bike immediately made its presence felt at the front of the race. In an intense stage that was ridden at a high pace from the start, Victor Campenaerts and Matteo Jorgenson showed themselves near the front, but no decisive breakaway was able to form.

A heavily reduced peloton then began the ascent of the Col du Tourmalet, where the race exploded. Pogacar launched an attack with five kilometres remaining to the summit, after which Vingegaard settled into his own pace. The Dane fought as hard as he could, but ultimately had to acknowledge Pogacar was stronger today. The Slovenian was untouchable and soloed to victory.

"It wasn't the day I had hoped for," Vingegaard reflected afterwards. "It was a very tough day. When Pogacar attacked on the Tourmalet, I stuck to my own pace. However, the descent towards the final climb did not suit me, and I lost a lot of time there. It wasn't my best day on the bike. I am disappointed, but that's the way it is."

Team director Marc Reef saw positives despite the time loss. "Jonas fought all the way to the finish and did everything he could to limit the gap to Pogacar. He also managed to keep the group behind him at a distance, which was important as well."

"Before the stage, our plan was to have someone in the early breakaway so that Jonas would have support after the Tourmalet," Reef continued. "That did not work out, so we had to adjust our approach during the race. On the Tourmalet, Jonas settled into his own pace after Pogacar's attack and stayed within ten seconds for a long time. With two kilometres to go to the summit, he had to ease off the pace slightly. He continued to fight all the way to the finish, but he could no longer limit the gap."