As expected, 26-year-old Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard won the 110th edition of the Tour de France on a bike this Sunday, as he crossed the finish line, on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, alongside his Jumbo-Visma teammates, at the end of the 21st and final stage won by Belgian Jordi Meeus (BORA-hansgrohe).
Successfully defending the title he won last year, 26-year-old Vingegaard was joined on the final podium by two cyclists from the UAE Emirates: Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, also a two-time Tour champion (2020 and 2021) who finished second behind the Dane again, now at 07.29 minutes, and Britain’s Adam Yates, third at 10.56 minutes.
And he has already announced that he will be present at the Tour of Spain (between August 26 and September 7) together with teammate Primoz Roglic, three-time winner of the Vuelta and champion of the last Giro. A bomb that surprised even the organization of the race, which had not expected the Dane’s presence. The 26-year-old Dane will therefore make an attempt at the double (Tour-Vuelta), something no cyclist has achieved since Briton Chris Froome in 2017.
The 21st and final stage, a 115.1km link between Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and the Champs Elysées, in Paris, was won by Jordi Meeus, who crossed the finish line in 02:56.13, ahead of compatriot Jasper Philipsen Bel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla), second and third respectively.
“Of course I am very proud and happy. Winning the Tour for the second time in a row is exciting, especially for this sea of people here in Paris today. I have to thank my team, my family and all of Denmark for all the support they have given me. This is for them,” said the shy cyclist gleefully in the mixed zone after being crowned winner.
The Danish cyclist also left a word with Tajed Pogacar, his great rival. “It was a great journey and everything went really fast. It was a tough race and an incredible one-on-one against Pogacar, which we both enjoyed. I hope to come back next year and, who knows, try for a third win.”
From fishmonger to stardom
Born on December 10, 1996 in Hillerslev, a small fishing village in Denmark with only 370 inhabitants, located in a rural area of humble and hard-working people on the North Sea coast, the Jumbo-Visma runner practiced several sports before opting for cycling: handball, swimming, badminton and even football.
A fan of Liverpool and a fan of Alberto Contador and the Schleck brothers, the slim, blond boy discovered his passion for cycling at the age of 10, when the Tour of Denmark came past his door.
Although he immediately excelled in a test organized by the local club for a group of children, winning his first podium in a race weeks later, Vingegaard struggled to assert himself as his weight (he is 1.75m and 60kg) was incompatible with the windy Danish plains.
ColoQuick CULT, a continental team, noticed his potential and signed him as a trainee in 2016 and offered him a contract for the following season. But Vingegaard’s progress was interrupted in May 2017 when he broke his femur in a bad fall during the Tour of the Fjords. Because he could not ride a bicycle, he decided to work at a fish factory in Hanstholm.
“I liked that job, even though I had to get up at five in the morning. It was relaxing and I didn’t have to think too much. All I had to do was take orders for sole and cod, take care of receipts and bids.
Jumbo-Visma always believed in his potential and gave him time to grow, which brought him to the 2020 Vuelta to assist Primoz Roglic. In 2021 he saw his patience rewarded with a victory in a stage of the Tour of the United Arab Emirates and a second place in the Tour. Last year he became the second Dane to win the Tour de France, after Bjarne Riis in 1996. And this year he repeated the feat, sharing Tajed Pogacar’s status as the best cyclist of today.
Considered one of the shyest and most reserved cyclists in the peloton, his wife is one of his biggest supporters. “Jonas tends to hide his emotions. We work together to make sure he opens up more and that I’m not always the one who makes the decisions,” acknowledged Trina Hansen, the woman responsible for dealing with the fear of the yellow jersey, a mission she shares with Jumbo-Visma.
Source: DN
