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Jonas Vingegaard completed an incredible run to victory in the Tour de France on Sunday just three years after turning pro, as the 25-year-old Danish rider soaked up the atmosphere on the Champs-Élysées in Paris to close cycling’s 21st and final stage in style an event.
Competing in the Tour de France for only the second time, Vingegaard secured the triumph after winning the penultimate stage by such a comfortable margin that no other rider could make up enough ground to overtake him on the traditional closing day.
Vingegaard’s winning time was 79:32.29. Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar took second (+3.34) and Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas third (+8.13) in the three-week race.
Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen took the final stage for his second stage win by several lengths on the bike, becoming the only sprinter with multiple stage wins in this year’s race. Dylan Groenewegen of the Netherlands finished second in the sprint ahead of third-placed Alexander Kristof of Norway.
The celebrations also included women in the world’s most watched sporting spectacle. The Tour de France Femmes began on Sunday with 24 teams of six riders vying for the title in the eight-day, 640-mile stage race ending in the Vosges Mountains, marking the fifth time in 119 years that the Tour de France has featured female riders.
Vingegaard finished second in Saturday’s time trial in 3:34 behind Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert. However, his time left him so far ahead of his closest pursuers that shortly after he finished, he was able to begin his coronation, hugging his partner Trine Hansen and their 2-year-old daughter Frida.
He did the exact same thing almost as soon as he crossed the line on Sunday.
“My two girls on the finish line means even more to me,” he told reporters on Saturday after a particularly grueling stage amid conditions that have set records for high temperatures in the UK over the past week. “I’m just so happy and proud.”
Despite the sweltering elements, including temperatures soaring into the triple digits, Vingegaard was able to extend his lead during the 20th stage, featuring countless hills and mountain climbs in what was one of the most demanding tests in Tour de France history .
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Among Vingegaard’s closest rivals was Pogacar, who was looking for a third consecutive win. He was dueling with Wingegaard, second in last year’s Tour de France, for the lead until the final few stages.
Vingegaard stepped up at last year’s race after Jumbo-Visma’s number 1 rider, Primoz Roglic, dropped out after a crash. His performance after Roglic’s departure produced one of the fastest times on the Mont Ventoux.
The storybook ending this time around for Vingegaard is all the more fascinating given that in 2019 he was working part-time at a packing plant in Denmark gutting and cleaning fish. He was also employed at a fish auction, often waking well before sunrise and working in freezing temperatures.
Van Aert, meanwhile, finished this year’s Tour de France with the green jersey, which is awarded to the rider who accumulates the most points in stage times and intermediate sprints. Van Aart won three stages while helping his team-mate on the rugged Hautakam climb by breaking away and controlling the pace.
Pogacar was unable to stay attached and eventually faded as Vingegaard and van Aert continued to climb, keeping the Jumbo-Visma team well ahead in winning their sixth of 20 stages.
“I think the fight between me and Jonas was really something special and Jonas was really something special,” said the 23-year-old Pogakar. “It’s an interesting couple of years ahead for us.”
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