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Tour de France 2024: Jonas Vingegaard admits boos are 'not so nice' as Tadej Pogacar urges fans to stop
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Updated 16/07/2024 at 16:32 GMT+1
Jonas Vingegaard admits being booed is "not so nice" as he tries to cling onto Tadej Pogacar in the battle for yellow at the Tour de France. The two-time defending champion came under fire in the Pyrenees over the weekend, while rival Pogacar seemed to get a much more favourable reception from the roadside spectators. Pogacar said the boos are "unwelcome" and did not belong in cycling.
'Unwelcome' - Pogacar says booing does not belong in cycling amid Vingegaard jeers
Video credit: TNT Sports
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has urged cycling fans to stop booing Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) at the Tour de France, calling the jeers "unwelcome".
Vingegaard said some spectators boeed him on Stage 14 in the Pyrenees on Saturday, which also saw a spectator throw crisps at him and Pogacar.
The Dane is competing for the first time since suffering multiple fractures and a punctured lung in a heavy crash in April, but is hanging on in the yellow jersey battle despite losing more time to Pogacar over the weekend.
Pogacar leads the general classification by 3'09" from Vingegaard ahead of Tuesday's Stage 16 to Nimes.
Asked by Eurosport's Matt Stephens why he seemed to be getting a more positive reaction than Vingegaard on the road, Pogacar said: "It shouldn't be like this.
"I noticed this in some other races, where I was not there, when for some riders there is a lot of booing.
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"In cycling, this is unusual. This is what you expect in football and basketball, sports with teams against each other.
"But what we go through on the climbs, all the riders go through hell on those kinds of stages. Everybody needs support and booing doesn't suit cycling. It's unwelcome."
Vingegaard usurped Pogacar to win the last two Tours, but will need a huge turnaround in the final week to secure a third.
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'My blood is boiling' – Spectator throws crisps in face of Pogacar and Vingegaard
Video credit: TNT Sports
"Of course it's not so nice," Vingegaard said on the booing ahead of Stage 16.
"But that's now how it is. I cannot change how people are on the road. I just don't understand why you go to see cycling and then boo people.
"Just cheer on people. It's how they want to do it, but I just don't really understand why."
Pogacar is now six stages from a third yellow jersey, including three more tests in the mountains and a race-concluding individual time trial in Nice.
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