Vingegaard, together with Jumbo-Visma, finally found fortune against the defending champion in the Alps, delivering a stunning attack to take both the stage and the yellow jersey.
Pogačar’s unexpected collapse over the final five kilometres on the Granon saw the UAE Team Emirates star surrender over two minutes to his GC rival, and though he tried to steal some seconds back on Alpe d’Huez, Vingegaard was up to the task.
The Dane kept the 23-year-old in his sights for much of Stage 12 and neutralised two late attacks to cross the finish line together in fifth behind winner Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).
It was the first of several stages Vingegaard expects Pogačar to contest, which is why he has made the Slovenian – not stage wins – his chief target as the second week draws to a close.
“The plan was just to make it a bit of a hard race,” Vingegaard said of Stage 12, one Jumbo-Visma controlled at various points through the likes of Christophe Laporte, Nathan van Hooydonck, Supp Kuss and Wout van Aert.
“We believe that the harder it is, the better it is for me – then it’s less explosive and I think that suits me better, or at least that’s what I’m best at.
“The idea was to make everyone else suffer, not to go for the stage win. We expected him (Pogačar) to attack and think he will try and do it again.
“But I think my biggest task is to stick to him and not lose him from sight, and that’s what we did.
“I expected him to attack today so that’s how it is, and I also expect him to attack in the next two weeks.”
It’s unlikely the yellow jersey holder will lose time in the 193-kilometre journey from Bourg to Saint-Etienne on Friday, with any escapees sure to be contained in a day for the sprinters.
Nevertheless, Vingegaard isn’t taking his position for granted and will rely on arguably the Tour’s best team to help him avenge last year’s second-overall finish behind Pogačar.
“Today, I have to thank all my teammates – they did an incredible job,” Vingegaard said.
“I get a lot of confidence from the team I have but on the other hand it often comes down to man against man and I just have to be strong enough. Hopefully, I can be strong enough.”
“Obviously, we saw last year that I already had the level,” the 25-year-old added. “This year gave a lot for confidence. I just grew mentally.
“Now, I have this beautiful jersey and (must) do everything I can to try to hang onto it.
“It was a special day for me, the first day in yellow.”
The Tour de France continues tonight with a less mountainous but still hilly route to Saint-Etienne for Stage 13. Watch from 8:55pm (AEST) on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker, and on SBS and SBS On Demand from 9:30pm (AEST).
