cycling
Vingegaard celebrates tour victory with pizza – three-way fight in 2024?
Travels back to Denmark as the winner of the tour: Jonas Vingegaard. photo
© Thibault Camus/AP/dpa
First Copenhagen, then Glyngøre: Denmark is planning a huge cheering reception for Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard. We are already looking to the coming year. For the first time, the tour does not end in Paris.
The pictures of his team from Paris on Twitter once again showed the frugality of the 26-year-old champion from Denmark. In the evening, however, the table was bigger: “The great tour” will be celebrated with a nice meal, said Vingegaard, who is already planning the next coup: “According to my ideas, I would like to come back next year – and of course win.”
Denmark plans cheering reception
The slim superstar is celebrated in his homeland for his modest manner. A columnist for the newspaper “Ekstra Bladet” named him the most successful athlete in the history of the northern European country. On Wednesday afternoon Vingegaard will be received in the city hall of the Danish capital Copenhagen. As with his first victory a year ago, tens of thousands will probably celebrate him on the town hall square. On Thursday it’s off to his second big break in his home town of Glyngøre in Jutland, which has 1,400 inhabitants. There he was welcomed by 20,000 fans last year.
However, Vingegaard may leave his native Denmark. “We can’t live in Denmark because unfortunately there are no mountains there. So we have to deal with that,” said his fiancée Trine Hansen. The family may go to Switzerland. But first the Tour winner takes a break, then Vingegaard prepares for the Tour of Spain, which he will contest from August 26th.
Vingegaard’s title defense in front of rival Tadej Pogacar, whom the Dane distanced by 7:29 minutes, was only a few hours ago, but the Slovenian’s eyes are already on revenge next year. He gave hope for another gripping duel between the two exceptional drivers.
“Jonas had two really great days that I just couldn’t keep up with, and I had one of the worst performances ever. We’ll both continue to fight for victory in the future,” promised the 24-year-old Pogacar after losing to the now two-time Tour winner.
2024 a three-way battle?
In the coming year, the duel for overall victory could even become a three-way battle. World Champion Remco Evenepoel will be involved in the race for the top. “With Remco Evenepoel, another player comes into the ring – he can complement the podium, in whatever position,” said cycling expert and ex-rider Jens Voigt at Eurosport. And Pogacar said: “There are more youngsters to come. We have a great future ahead of us.”
It is questionable whether the 23-year-old Belgian Evenepoel will compete for his team Soudal-Quick Step. Recently there have also been rumors about a change in the highly talented climbing specialist. He canceled this year’s Tour of France after a corona infection set him back at the Giro d’Italia. At least there will be a duel between Evenepoel and Vingegaard in the Tour of Spain. But the real showdown will take place on France’s country roads in 2024.
Innovations: Côte d’Azur instead of Champs Élysées
Then, for the 111th edition of the tour, there are some other changes. Next year, the long-distance journey will not end in Paris, as is traditionally the case, but in Nice on July 21. The reason for this is the Olympic Games in the French capital, which will be held from July 26th to August 11th. In addition, the tour ends with a demanding time trial starting in Monaco. A battle against the clock on the final day was last seen in 1989, with painful memories for the French. At that time, the American Greg LeMond edged out the Frenchman Laurent Fignon in a historic duel by just eight seconds from first place.
The tour will also start in Italy for the first time. The riders start in Florence, with a total of three stages planned in the neighboring country. The tour organization ASO will present further details on the individual stages on October 25th.