Pogacar Takes Lead as Vingegaard Struggles in Time Trial

Denmark's cycling star Jonas Vingegaard experienced a challenging day during stage five of the Tour de France on Wednesday. The defending champion lost significant time to Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar in the time trial, which saw Pogacar claim the prestigious yellow jersey.

Finishing 13th in the stage, Vingegaard now finds himself in fourth place overall, one minute and 13 seconds behind Pogacar. The unexpected deficit came as a surprise to Vingegaard, as well as his race director Grischa Niermann, who cited unexplained struggles.

Meanwhile, Pogacar, the three-time Tour winner, expressed his surprise at the timing gap. Despite this setback, Vingegaard remains confident of regaining the lead with the high-altitude stages in the Pyrenees still on the horizon.

(With inputs from agencies.)