[Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno X Mobility), who was fighting for the win in the breakaway group on stage 15 of the Tour de France, described being passed by Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Ries-A-Bike) on the final climb was described as.

Two of the Tour's best climbers, led by Visma's Matteo Jorgenson, entered the final climb of the Plateau de Beille with a 2:35 lead. Johannessen, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Enric Mas (Movistar), Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), and Richard Calapas (EF Education-Easy Post).

But after tackling the 15.8-km hellish Pyrenean beast, the closest to stage winner Pogachar at the finish was Olympic champion Calapaz, who finished 5:41 behind the race leader, with Johannessen another 6:27 behind.

Pogachar's advantage was so great that even as overall third-place finisher Remco Evenpole (Sourdal-Quick Step) crossed the finish line, he had already begun warming down on his TT bike.

"I knew that Pogachar and Vingegaard were going to try to beat me on the last climb.

"For me, when those two passed me, I felt like I wasn't playing the same sport as them. But they are cool and they make cycling fun to watch. [They] are on another level."

The Norwegians have never been beaten by Pogachar or Vingegaard, and in stage 6 of the 2023 Tour, the Slovenian won in Autre Cambasque, missing out on his first Tour win

behind the superstars. However, he felt he lost energy after missing a crucial split at Col d'Agnes with 73km to go.

"It was good for me to be in the breakaway group and that was my first goal. Then there were a couple of Red Bull-Bohra-Hansgrohe guys and I was looking for a chance to split the group before the final climb. I was a little bit angry because they caught me from behind, but I was able to use that aggression to catch up to the group and fight for the win," said the Norwegian youngster, who admitted that the tactical battle to Plateau de Beille unfolded in the knowledge that the victory was gone.

"Some of us were a little pissed off, but once the chance to win was gone, we went into a tactical phase," he said.

"For me, my legs weren't the best after I bridged up to the lead group. In the end I couldn't do anything, but that's life."

Johannessen will have a second day of rest after two days of epic racing in the Pyrenees.

"I'll sleep as much as I want, have cake and coffee, not think about cycling for a day, and get back to work," he said of his Monday plan.

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