Jonas Vingegaard has played down suggestions of fatigue after winning the Giro d’Italia, declaring himself fitter, stronger and happier as he attempts to win a third Tour de France.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider cruised to the Giro title in May without serious opposition, in doing so becoming only the eighth man in history – and first since the now-retired Chris Froome in 2018 – to win all three Grand Tours.
Now the Dane, 29, is aiming to deny his eternal rival Tadej Pogačar a fifth and third successive Tour de France title in what is set to be the duo’s latest ding-dong battle.
Speaking to press in Barcelona before the start of the 113th Tour, Vingegaard was asked about the physical and mental toll of riding the Giro before the Tour. “Without taking anything away from anyone at the Giro, it is true that I did not have to completely kill myself [to win the race]. I didn’t come out of the Giro completely on my knees,” he said.
Vingegaard won all five mountain-top stages at the Italian race and his closest challenger, Felix Gall, finished more than five minutes adrift of him in the general classification. It was, in reality, a procession for the rider who also won the Vuelta a España last September.
“That means you can recover faster afterwards and start your training and get into a good rhythm quicker. If you are on your knees after the Giro, you need two weeks, maybe even more, to recover," Vingegaard added.
“Then it is hard to start building towards the Tour because then the Tour is already coming. For me at least, I came out of the Giro in a good way and pretty quickly I could start building towards the Tour de France.”
Pogačar, in 2024, was the last rider to win the Giro and Tour in the same year, the Slovenian becoming the first rider to do so since Marco Pantani in 1998.
The 26-year stretch without a double winner led many commentators and riders to dub it the near-impossible task. Vingegaard is hoping to add his name to the short roll call of successors.
“We tried something new [in going for the Giro-Tour double], which was also the plan, because I think we realised after last year that it was not really so enjoyable to do what we did every year,” Vingegaard said.
“So now we tried to mix it up with the preparation for the Tour, and it has been going really well this year.
“I think I’m ready for this race and I am really looking forward to it. It has been an amazing year for me so far and I am looking forward to it hopefully continuing,”
Vingegaard and his Visma team have repeatedly said in the past few months that he is in better shape than ever before, and it was a message that the rider himself repeated.
“I’m both better and stronger,” he said. “I would even say I’m happier in a mental state also; I’m in a very good place. I’ve had a very good year so far. I’ve enjoyed riding a bit more this year than I did last year.
“I’ve had a very good season so far already with the three races I’ve done” – he also won Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya – “and of course it takes some pressure off me and off the team.
“But the Tour de France is still the biggest race. It is still the race you really want to win. I’m not saying that I’m not happy with what I’ve already won this year because I am extremely happy, especially also winning the Giro d’Italia title and now having won all three Grand Tours.
“But again, the Tour de France is just the biggest race of the year and I’m here to go for the victory.”
