Erik ten Hag: How Manchester United boss inspired masterplan to topple Tadej Pogacar at Tour de France

Jumbo-Visma’s masterplan to unravel Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at the 2022 Tour de France was partly inspired by an unlikely source: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. Jonas Vingegaard ended Jumbo-Visma’s wait for the yellow jersey in Paris on Sunday, with his triumph teed up by a spectacular double assault on Pogacar on Stage 11. Ad/> Vingegaard and team-mate Primoz Roglic, then still in GC contention, took it in turns to accelerate clear on the kinder slopes of the Col du Galibier, forcing Pogacar to close each move and expend energy.

The tactic was ruthlessly simple: force Pogacar to work twice as hard as Vingegaard and Roglic. He took the bait. /> Tour de FranceThe Power of Rivalry — Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar lighting up cycling world19 HOURS AGO Those succession of mini efforts proved pivotal when, with 4.5km to go, Vingegaard made attacked on the Col du Granon.

Pogacar could not respond, eventually coming home 2’51” adrift of the Dane. It was a day for the ages and one that effectively saw the Tour sewn up. Now Jumbo-Visma’s directeur sportif, Merijn Zeeman, has revealed his fellow Dutchman Ten Hag helped lay the blueprints for one of the most dramatic attacks in Tour history.