Jonas Vingegaard has been given a second hero’s welcome on arrival in Copenhagen, with huge crowds almost equal to the 2022 event, cheering his name as he appeared on the balcony of the city hall in the huge Rådhuspladsen square.
Jonas Vingegaard won the Tour de France on Sunday but has only just returned to Denmark after riding a criterium in Boxmeer in Belgium and then celebrating his victory in the Netherlands at the Jumbo-Visma team headquarters.
He again flew by private jet to Copenhagen with his wife, Trine and their young daughter Frida, and then travelled in an open-top car to the city centre, with local residents lining the route.
Vingegaard also ate one of the ceremonial Rådhuspandekager pancakes, a tradition usually reserved for visiting guests such as heads of state and royalty. He wore one of the many yellow jerseys he collected on the podium at the Tour de France.
“Thank you very much. It's amazing that so many people have turned up,” Vingegaard said on the balcony after speaking to the mayor of the city and the Danish Prime Minister, with a number of his fellow Danish riders who also took part in the Tour de France.
“It has been three fantastic weeks. There have been so many people out there to support me. I feel that I have had the whole of Denmark cheering me during every stage.
“I get so much extra energy from it. The last stage in Paris was especially wild. It's a great summer for me. Thank you.”
“If someone had said that I’d be here five years ago, I wouldn't have believed them,” Vingegaard said inside during a more formal speech.
“This year my faith in myself was put to the test. At one point Tadej Pogacar took one second after another on me. But you should always believe in yourself.
“It is not always that you perform. I didn't always do that as a child either. To the many children out there, I say: ‘Believe in yourself.’ That's also how it started for me. It has been a fantastic journey. I'm insanely proud to do it two years in a row.”
Despite some rain, Vingegaard walked to the nearby Tivoli gardens for a further event with his fellow Danish riders, confirming he hopes to ride the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. He also confirmed that he may soon move to Switzerland so he can train in the mountains while staying close to his young family.
On Thursday Vingegaard will finally travel home to Glyngøre in the West Jutland region of Denmark, where more celebrations are planned.
25,000 people are expected in the small fishing town, with a huge carrot cake made for the event. Vingegaard plans to stop off at a retirement home to thank them for his support before a public celebration in the afternoon and evening fireworks.
Vingegaard will finally get a chance to relax on Friday but will soon begin training for the Vuelta a Espana, where he will be joint leader with Primoz Roglic as Jumbo-Visma try to become the first team to ever complete a Grand Tour grand slam in the same season.
"I hope to have a few days to relax from Friday. When I'm ready, I'll focus on training and on the Vuelta again," Vingegaard said on Tuesday.
“I’m not going on altitude training. That would be too much. I'm just trying to train at home."
He described the effort of riding a second Grand Tour in a season as a challenge and an experiment.
“I want to find out how I feel in a second Grand Tour and it is also a challenge," he said.
"We’ll have two leaders but we still need to study everything but we want to win as a team. Winning the three Grand Tours in one season is a very big goal for this team."
