Jonas Vingegaard may languish over three minutes down on Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar after the weekend's Pyrenean stages, but the Dane isn't giving up hope on winning the race for a third time.
3:09 separate the Visma-Lease a Bike leader and the yellow jersey after he lost 43 seconds on Pla d'Adet and 1:12 on the climb to Plateau de Beille.
Yet Vingegaard still hopes to make a difference in the final week of the Tour, with a handful of hard stages in the Alps left to race and the final hilly time trial to Nice.
"When someone is better, you just have to accept that. He is better now. Hopefully we can turn it around in the third week," Vingegaard said during Visma-Lease a Bike's rest day press conference.
"I will not simply accept this result, I won't go down without a fight. I've won the Tour de France twice. I'm not here to ride for second place. I'll do everything I can to try to take the victory.
"He looks very strong but we've also seen in the past that he has bad days. Maybe he will have that in the third week. You never know.
"I will never crack mentally. I'll keep fighting, doing everything I can. We'll see in a week what the result will be. I haven't lost faith at all and I still believe that it can be possible. We showed it the last two years. We just have to keep trying and keep believing in it."
Vingegaard said his focus is on "looking forward" to the Tour's top spot, rather than looking back to defend against third-placed Remco Evenepoel, who lies 5:19 adrift of Pogačar.
Vingegaard is convinced that he can match and compete against Pogačar in the third week and in the years to come.
"It's not because he's like way better. So I think for sure, in the future or maybe even in this Tour de France, that I can improve a little bit, then it will be more equal and so maybe we'll be at the same level.
Vingegaard's teammate Wout van Aert suggested that Visma-Lease a Bike has missed several riders for the battle against Pogačar, with Sepp Kuss and Steven Kruijswijk both ruled out of Visma's Tour squad in the lead-in to the race.
"We miss Sepp Kuss and Steven Kruijswijk in particular on the climbs," Van Aert said.
"On Sunday we tried to tire everyone out as much as possible with our pace throughout the day. We succeeded but it just didn't have enough influence on Pogačar. We have to accept that. With other riders in this Tour, we wouldn't have been able to do much more, I think.
"Everyone rode really hard all day long. That's why I couldn't believe that those two had broken all the climbing records after such a tough ride. Jonas was super strong, but we have to accept that Pogačar is better at the moment."
Van Aert said that he wasn't surprised by the high climbing performances in the Pyrenees, which saw Pogačar, Vingegaard, and Evenepoel smash Marco Pantani's 26-year-old Plateau de Beille climbing record.
"The level in the peloton is higher every year anyway," the Belgian said. "Just look at the numbers in the last five years – all climbing records have been broken again and again. Not by me, but it's nothing new that it has happened again.
"You also have to realise that everything develops, everything is better every year – the bikes, training, methods, you name it. As a result, we as riders ride faster and faster."
The Belgian, as well as riding in support of Vingegaard, is also going for his own chances at this Tour de France. He has three podium spots to his name so far, but time is running out to take a 10th career stage win at the race.
"This is the Tour de France and I'm here for a result. I do have confidence that my fitness can improve with the rest that follows after the Tour," he said.
"I do not start any stage with the idea of taking a step forward in terms of fitness. I start every stage with a goal. Sometimes that is trying to win the stage; last weekend it was to help Jonas as best as possible. That will also be the division for the coming week.
"I expect the stage on Wednesday to Superdevoluy to be one for the escapees, where they can fight for the victory. But that stage is quite tough, with an uphill finish too. There is a big chance that there will always be a better climber in that group than I am at the moment so that will be difficult for me.
"I think my chances are better on Thursday [stage 18] to Barcelonette, but there will be more riders who think the same. Being in the breakaway on that day will be a battle in itself."
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