Johannessen: ‘It’s like I don’t do the same sport’ as Pogacar and Vingegaard whoosh past

Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility shared his thoughts after being overtaken by Tadej Pogačar from UAE Team Emirates and Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike on the final climb of Stage 15 at the Tour de France. Johannessen had been in the breakaway, fighting for the win, but realised the true challenge when the top climbers surged ahead.

“When those two guys went past, it’s like I don’t do the same sport as them,” said Johannessen.

The stage saw the best climbers in action, with Visma’s Matteo Jorgenson leading the way onto the final climb up Plateau de Beille. The five-man group in front comprised Johannessen, Jai Hindley, Enric Mas, Laurens De Plus, and Richard Carapaz.

After tackling the gruelling 15.8km Pyrenean climb, Pogačar finished first, followed by Olympic Champion Carapaz, who was 5:41 minutes behind. Johannessen finished 6:27 behind the race leader. Such was Pogačar’s dominance that when Remco Evenepoel crossed the line in third place, Pogačar had already begun a warm-down on his time trial bike.

Johannessen’s Perspective

Johannessen acknowledged the inevitable outcome on the final climb:

“We realised that Pogačar and Vingegaard would come in the end on the last climb, then it was just about winning the breakaway but I think Carapaz did that,” he said.

The Norwegian noted the apparent difference in skill:

“For me, when those two guys went past it’s like I don’t do the same sport as them. They are way too good and you want to hate them, but they are cool guys and make cycling fun to watch so it’s a bit hard. [They are] on another level.”

Stage Efforts and Reflections

Johannessen had hoped for a stage win earlier in the Tour, notably missing out on Stage 6 behind Pogačar in Cauterets-Cambasque. Despite making it into one of the many breakaway attempts on the 197.7km route filled with nearly 5000 metres of elevation gain, Johannessen admitted to losing energy after missing a key split on the Col d’Agnes with 73km to go.

“It was for me good to be in the breakaway, that was the first goal. After that, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had a couple of guys and they saw an opportunity before one of the last climbs to split the group. I got caught behind so I was a bit pissed but I used that aggression to bridge up to the group to be able to fight for a win,” said Johannessen.

However, realising the win was out of reach, he recounted the tactical phase:

“Some got a bit pissed but the opportunity for the win was gone then it went into a tactical phase, you just have to try to attack and be the last guy to get caught. For me, I didn’t have the best legs after bridging up to the front group so I knew that it was over. In the end, it was nothing but that’s life.”

Looking Ahead

Following two tough days in the Pyrenees, Johannessen and his team look forward to the second rest day. His plans for Monday include resting and recuperating:

“Sleep as long as I want then have some cake and coffee, not think about cycling for one day then back to work,” he said.

Main photo credit: ASO – Charly Lopez