Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard on Sunday won the Tour de France, ending the reign of two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar after a grueling three weeks and 3,350km of relentless struggle.
The 25-year-old former fish-market worker claimed his first Tour de France title, a year after his breakout performance when he came second to Pogacar.
“This victory is huge for me, it’s incredible,” Vingegaard said as he stood on top of the podium on a sun-kissed Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Photo: AFP
“There are so many people I want to thank, but I don’t know where to start,” he added, reserving particular praise for the organizers, who started the race in his native Denmark.
Vingegaard also hailed teammate Wout van Aert as “phenomenal” and “the best rider in the world,” as he was flanked by second-placed Pogacar and 2018 champion Geraint Thomas, who was third.
“We had a plan and we followed it to the letter, all my teammates outdid themselves,” the champion said.
Packed ranks of Danes in front of the podium began to chant his name as he thanked “the two girls in my life,” a reference to his partner and daughter.
“Without them, I couldn’t have done this,” he said.
Runner-up Pogacar won three stages and also took the white jersey for best under-25 rider for a third straight year.
He was thanked by Vingegaard for this “formidable battle.”
“The white jersey wasn’t really what I was after, but I’m happy with how I raced and am proud to be second,” Pogacar said. “We all dream when we are children of one day being on the Tour de France, of becoming a professional cyclist. The simple fact of participating in the Tour is incredible, especially when you come from a country like Slovenia. So to finish second is still exceptional.”
Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen won the dash for the line on the cobbled Champs-Elysees to take the iconic final stage victory, his second of this Tour, turning the page on his embarrassment at mistakenly celebrating on stage 4, when he had in fact finished second.
“This is the nicest win for any sprinter, it buries the end of the Tour, this one counts,” Philipsen said.
Jumbo-Visma produced a brilliant collective effort with six stage wins, the green sprint jersey and the red combativity jersey for Van Aert, and the polka dot mountains jersey for Vingegaard, as well as the overall title and yellow jersey.
After a relentless struggle over peaks and plains in a crushing heat wave, Vingegaard assured his win in Saturday’s time trial, having taken the lead in the Alps and extended it in the Pyrenees.
Geraint Thomas, the 2018 champion, was third after the veteran raced largely at his own pace, silencing doubters who thought that at 36, the affable Welshman was past his best.
The 21st stage was a largely ceremonial run as Vingegaard and others sipped champagne while rolling past the sights of Paris, including the Jardin du Luxembourg, through Saint Michel and past the Louvre before a sprint over eight laps of the Champs-Elysees.
The Jumbo-Visma team had celebrated on Saturday at their stop-over in Limoges, but the triumph came after a long, collective effort that nearly fell flat at the last minute.
Vingegaard survived the “heart attack” of a near fall on Saturday’s individual time trial to virtually wrap up the Tour.
The two main protagonists had fought each other from start to finish, with Vingegaard dethroning Slovenian Pogacar with a pair of soaring performances in the high mountains.
Pogacar made all the early running with his lone wolf attacking mentality, gradually clawing his way into top spot on stage 6 with an air of invincibility, but the stars aligned against Pogacar when he lost teammates to COVID-19 and injury. He is also a man known to dislike intense heat and temperatures hit 40°C during the final week of the race.
Vingegaard took the yellow jersey from Pogacar on stage 11 and while the UAE Team Emirates man refused stubbornly to give up, he lost further ground on stage 18.
Their epic struggle was highlighted by a moment of sportsmanship when Pogacar fell at high speed and Vingegaard waited for him to catch up, the pair clasping hands briefly in a memorable image from one of the best modern editions of the Tour.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
RSS