He is not an athlete who spends a lot of time participating in activities outside of competition. You could say Jonas Vingegaard is the Tour’s most introverted winner in recent years, but he’s a double winner at the Tour de France and a godsend to have at any race, especially if he decides to open the season in Galicia, which he did himself. The Danish star will start shooting in 2023. O Great Roadnew tour of Galicia created by former professional runner Ezequiel CamiiraIt will take place between February 22-25.
Vingegaard will go to the Galician soil with number one, as he signed for the second edition 11 months ago. O Great Road With the aim of winning four stages. He achieved three victories, and if it wasn’t a complete victory, it was because the first day of competition had to be canceled due to snow.
From the first pedal stroke
The stars of today’s cycling sport are not satisfied with hitting the roads with their eyes set on the Tour and just thinking of running for miles. Miguel Induráin. Alberto counter And Chris Froome They were the first to break this rule, and from the first pedal stroke of the year they moved the bike with determination like there was no tomorrow, intent on challenging the cycling world before donning the Tour number.
Vingegaard is no exception. You could almost say he’s a cycling monk of sorts. His life passes between his family, concentrations in Tenerife, a few days of training in Malaga and a very selective competition that this year will lead him to participate in the Tour with only 25 days of racing: 4 stages in Galicia, 7 stages in Tirreno – Adriatico, Itzulia 6 in and 8 in the Critérium del Dauphiné.
In fact, it is a similar program to the program in 2023, although there are changes. Tyrrhenian-Adriatic For Paris-Nice, on the same dates in March, from the 4th to the 10th, two races traditionally, incomprehensibly and illogically overlapping in the professional calendar.
And above all with an important situation. Intentionally or without intention, Vingegaard Knowing that he would not be able to face Pogacar until the French Tour, he prepared the way for the 2023 Tour, which he won. But the surprise came and the Slovenian rival decided at the last minute to register for Paris-Nice, where he could do nothing but watch from behind the almost humiliating lead. pogakar. It was his only defeat of the season, as his second place at the Vuelta was due to compliance with team orders and respect for teammate Sepp Kuss rather than a lack of power. Therefore, after the Tour this year, Vingegaard It will be back Embrace With the intention of collecting the pending bill for 2023 as a victory.
I focused on cycling
“I have no hobbies other than cycling. I spend my free time with my wife and daughter. Even if you win, cycling life is not easy,” he told Danish media in one of several interviews this month. Training and training is the motto of lightweight runners. 1.75 meters and barely 60 kilos. There is nothing else, no parties, no echoes of society, no appearances on television, no going out at night…
For the same reason, no one doubts that the road to the Tour will be traversed by seeking victory every day, whether in the form of stages or final victories. And so it all starts in Galicia with four stages. O Great RoadCan win three of these: First 14.8 kilometer time trial to Coruñamountain stage lugo and most of all, farewell to the race, the queen of the day, with the sultry climb Mount Aloia, in Pontevedra; 7 kilometers of climbing with an average rate of 8%.
until the tour Vingegaard And pogakar They won’t be able to shake hands as the Slovenian cyclist’s calendar includes Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, Volta, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Giro, and then head to the Grande Boucle with the suspicion of knowing how much effort the effort at the Italian tour took. The fact that he has softened further this year is paying the price. This is the ultimate uncertainty, and it is what has happened to every transalpine race winner since then. Marco Pantani He achieved double success in 1998, a year that should be forgotten, when the biggest doping scandals in cycling took place, which seemed to have already come out of the drug tunnel.