Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) has suggested that he faces a tougher array of rivals than ever before at the Tour de France, with Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel all set to line out this year. "That will make it harder to win it," Vingegaard said.
The Danish rider was talking before O Gran Camiño, his first race of the 2023 season, a year in which he is aiming to become the first man to win three successive Tours since Chris Froome claimed the race in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Vingegaard won a duel against Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in each of the past two seasons, but this year, the Dane has added former teammate Primoz Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) to his list of genuine rivals.
He recognised that the increased number of rivals would make attaining the Tour de France – “my number one goal of the season” – more complicated.
In his first press conference of the 2024 season, Vingegaard also told reporters that a decision about his Vuelta a España participation, where he took second last year, would not be made until after the Tour. He said that after a five-month gap in racing, he was "hungry" to start competing again.
Vingegaard also brushed aside the idea that Pogačar might suffer from less consistent form in the Tour after doing the Giro d’Italia. “I don’t know about that,” Vingegaard said.
“I expect him to be at his best in the Tour along with Primoz and Remco. It’s going to be a very nice fight there with them, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Vingegaard was also convinced that the increased number of potential contenders in July would make victory more complicated.
“For sure the competition will be harder than it’s ever been and for sure it will be harder as well to win it,” he said.
“Of course, we just have to look at ourselves and do the best possible preparation, get there in as good as possible shape and then we will hopefully win. And if someone else is stronger, then that’s how it is.”
Visma-Lease A Bike themselves will have various major changes to face in the 2024 season, starting with Roglič no longer being on their roster and continuing with the absence of Wout van Aert, who is riding the Giro rather than the Tour.
“It’s going to be very different now to race against Primoz, for the last five years we’ve been teammates, always standing together,” he said.
“Now we are on opposite teams, and both just have to fight for the win, so of course that’s a strange feeling.
“For sure I will miss Wout in the Tour, too, we’ve seen in the last three years how important he is. On the other hand, I’m also looking forward to seeing him in the Giro and I will be cheering him on there.”
Vingegaard himself has had changes of programme, principally switching from Paris-Nice, where he finished third last year, to Tirreno-Adriatico, where he finished second in 2022.
“Initially, the plan was to do Strade Bianche, but we decided to take it out of the calendar, otherwise I would have only one day at home in two months. But we still had Tirreno there," he explained.
Regarding the far end of the season, no decision will yet be made about the Vuelta a España for a second year running until after the Tour de France, but Vingegaard said he was convinced that it was entirely feasible for the Dutch team to win both Grand Tours again in 2024.
“Last year, I got the Tour and Sepp [Kuss] got the Vuelta, so it should be possible. But first of all, we’ll focus on what’s here," he said.
Vingegaard started 2023 with a sweep of the stage at O Gran Camiño, and he decided to return to the race this year having deemed it to be a “good experience” twelve months ago.
“I’m very happy to be here again, my shape is where I want it to be, and this is where I want to race I’ve already got some good memories of this and hopefully this year I’ll have some more,” he said.
“The weather wasn’t the best last year, but that’s just how it is, it’s not something I can change. I really enjoyed my time here and that’s why I came back.”
The forecast for Thursday and O Gran Camiño's opening time trial is for bad weather again, with potential very strong winds in the afternoon, but Vingegaard said he was not overly troubled by that fact.
“I’m not worried about it, it’s the same for everyone,” he said. “If it’s way too windy, it will be hard of course. But even when it’s quite windy you can still ride your bike.”
