Van Aert might've had a chance to take the polka dots along with green but seems like Vingegaard wanted to put his stamp on the race as the leader by winning today after Pogacar made his own statement with his third stage victory yesterday.
Who knows what went into Vingegaard's decision to wait after Pogacar crashed, but I thought it was super smart on many levels. With the respect the two have expressed for each other, and Pogacar's image as a true competitor gracious in both victory and defeat, it was obvious that Pog wouldn't continue attacking on the descent. Yes, there was some risk that Pogacar would resume attacking on the Hautacam, but by neutralizing the descent Vingegaard allowed his teammates to rejoin while knowing WvA was also up ahead. Pogacar meanwhile gained nothing from letting the chasers back in, was likely tired from attacking, possibly took damage from his crash, and hadn't shown all Tour that he could put in a minute+ on Vingegaard uphill that he needed.
While Vingegaard has been impressive all Tour and barely put a foot wrong (except right before his rival made an even bigger mistake!), in some respects Pogacar takes main responsibility for being in second place by being overly active since the start of the Tour. I wonder if Pogacar got swept up in his own hype of being a level above everyone in the peloton and felt obligated to put on a show, constantly attacking for meager seconds even before the major mountain stages. He paid for it on the Granon when he fell into the trap Jumbo Visma masterfully set. Ever since, he's had little choice but to continue the all-or-nothing attacks in hopes of cracking Vingegaard, but the latter's shown himself unshakable, and Pogacar's efforts harming himself more than Jonas.
Realizing that it's premature to declare the GC race over, I still wonder if Pogacar taking a more conservative strategy would've produced the far more expected, albeit boring, result in this TdF. Surely Pogacar won't be foolish enough to make those same wasteful moves in the future, especially knowing there's now a legit threat at his level who can capitalize on his mistakes. I hope that a wiser Pogacar won't make future races less interesting. Maybe he'll come back with a vengeance to prove that he can both win and still attack, or will we see a more cagey racer?