Tadej Pogačar Dominates Tour de France Finale, But Jorgenson Finally Shows He Can Make Him Bleed
Tadej Pogačar was untouchable as he surged up Butte Montmartre for the second time in the Tour de France's closing stage. His stranglehold on the general classification (GC) was unshakable — a whopping 4 minutes and 27 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, and over 10 minutes clear of anyone else. With GC times frozen for the finale, this was already a victory parade. He had crushed four stages, and honestly, the only reason it wasn’t six was probably because he didn’t feel like it.
But Pogačar doesn’t do passive. He doesn’t just want to win — he wants to dominate. So despite having nothing to prove, he hammered the pedals up the cobbled climb, slicing riders off the back. By the summit, only four could hang with him — including American Matteo Jorgenson and Wout van Aert, both from Vingegaard’s Visma Lease-a-Bike squad.
Back in 2022 and 2023, Vingegaard had managed to beat Pogačar with brilliant teamwork and tactical blows. They exploited Pogačar’s aggressive instincts, goading him into burning out by chasing down every attack. But that strategy belongs to a bygone era now. In the 2024 Tour and again in the first 20 stages of 2025, Pogačar looked untouchable. He hadn’t been dropped once. Most teams didn’t even bother to try. The peloton—a swirling, glittering beast of human effort—couldn’t match him. Only Vingegaard still had any hope of keeping up.
That’s where Jorgenson came in. As a domestique—cycling’s version of a battlefield foot soldier—his job was to empty himself for his leader. He wasn’t chasing personal glory; he was there to soften up Pogačar for Vingegaard.
For the first few days, Visma’s plan was to catch Pogačar off guard with sneak attacks: on flats, descents, and even in gusty crosswinds. To make himself a legit threat, Jorgenson stayed close in the standings so Pogačar had to respond to him as well. Visma hoped that the combined pressure from Jorgenson and Vingegaard would finally crack Pogačar.
Did it work? Barely. Pogačar brushed off their moves like lint. He even sparred with Mathieu van der Poel, a heavyweight sprinter, and though he lost Stage 2, he got revenge just two stages later. By Stage 4, Vingegaard was just eight seconds behind, with Jorgenson trailing by 19 — close, but not enough to shift the tide.
Then came Stage 5’s time trial, where Pogačar blew them both away, gaining over a minute. By Stage 12’s brutal Hautacam, he carved out two more minutes on Vingegaard and ten on Jorgenson. Any talk of Jorgenson being a GC contender was dead and buried.
So Visma switched strategies. They went stage-hunting. Simon Yates grabbed Stage 10, but it felt more like consolation than conquest. On the queen stage, Jorgenson got into a breakaway, but his gas tank ran dry on the merciless Col de la Loze. He looked like he was waiting for Vingegaard, but when the team leader passed him, Jorgenson had nothing left.
That’s how dominant Pogačar had become — fans found excitement in a mere grimace. When he winced chasing Vingegaard on Mont Ventoux, it was a moment of drama. For most of the race, he looked inhumanly strong, so even a flicker of pain became entertainment.
Jorgenson, meanwhile, was quietly crumbling. Unlike Vingegaard, whose rivalry with Pogačar still earned him respect, Jorgenson simply disappeared into the climbs. His efforts looked thankless. Only with two stages to go did he admit he’d been battling bronchitis. It begged the question — what was this tall, sick warrior doing, grinding himself up climbs beside cycling’s supernatural elite?
The tale echoed Sepp Kuss’ story at the 2023 Vuelta a España, where despite being a loyal domestique, he accidentally found himself in the lead. That time, Visma's leaders nearly mutinied before eventually helping Kuss win. Reflecting later, Kuss said: “Maybe they never needed my help.” A chilling thought — that sacrifice might not even matter.
At this year's Tour, Jorgenson’s crisis ran even deeper. Vingegaard needed him… and he still couldn’t deliver.
But maybe, just maybe, he could still set the stage for someone else.
With Pogačar’s overall win all but secured, Visma targeted a stage victory. Their best hope? Wout van Aert, a beast on short, punchy climbs like Montmartre. Before the final ascent, Jorgenson started attacking again and again. Pogačar followed each time, though now with a noticeable lag. He was finally showing signs of wear and tear.
Even if Visma hadn’t gained much from their relentless poking, it had sapped Pogačar’s energy. Jorgenson stayed loyal to that grind-them-down tactic. And yet, even then, Pogačar still had enough juice to charge ahead and trim the lead group again.
But then — magic.
As they hit the final stretch of Montmartre, van Aert exploded forward, pedals smashing, bike straining under his brute force. Pogačar finally cracked. He couldn’t hold the pace. Van Aert broke him. For the first time, the great Pogačar bled.
Van Aert soared to the finish, well ahead, as others simply gave up the chase. Pogačar rolled in with a triumphant finger to the sky — Tour victory number four in the bag. And behind him came Jorgenson, silent and spent, his selfless mission finally fulfilled.
Description:
Tadej Pogačar crushed the 2025 Tour de France with unbeatable dominance, but it was Visma’s Matteo Jorgenson who pushed him to his limit on the final Montmartre climb. Read how Pogačar’s perfect run was finally dented.
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