On Saturday, there were six elite bike races going on at the same time, so you would be forgiven for missing one of them, especially when Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was dominating the agenda. To fill you in, there is a new-ish stage race in Galicia, northwestern Spain called O Gran Camiño, which Jonas Vingegaard has decided is his own personal race, to win as he sees fit.
For the second consecutive season, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider won three stages and the overall in a fashion so dominant that his fellow GC competitors must have wondered if there was much point turning up at all, especially given the inclement weather in Galicia. The sight of Vingegaard decisively attacking in the pouring rain suggests that he still knows a bit about riding a bike.
On Saturday, specifically, the Dane decided to rip the race apart 153km from the finish, taking just nine riders with him after his attack on a category-three climb. Everything came back together 15km later, but it was a statement of intent. Vingegaard attacked again with 21km to go, and this time; the dig he put in was terminal for everyone else in the race. Add a three-kilometre solo victory on stage two, and victory on stage four, then it was as comprehensive a conquest as you can get in a four-stage race, of which only three counted towards the overall.
It should hardly come as a surprise that Vingegaard is this good. He won 16 times last season, after winning just 12 times before. His performances at O Gran Camiño, however, felt like something else, like Vingegaard off the leash, Vingegaard with the throttle pressed firmly down.
Is something quiet if it is so explosive? Well, only if it happens at a race like O Gran Camiño, a 2.1 race at the same time as the UAE Tour and Opening Weekend. Away from the spotlight, Vingegaard proved that he is one of the best bike riders in the world.
The Visma rider is looking very good, ripping bike races apart, dominating stage races, this early in the season. Due to scheduling, two of his biggest rivals in Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) are yet to contest a bike race yet this season, and so must watch on while Vingegaard makes it obvious how excellent his form is. It might just be O Gran Camiño, but the Dane put almost two minutes into Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) in only four stages. It’s ominous.
It is just a perception thing, the way he presents himself, that Vingegaard does not seem as exciting a rider as Pogačar or Roglič, while he casually does things like attack from over 150km out. Perhaps 2024’s version of the two-time Tour de France winner is one free to do whatever he wants, to bend races to his whim.
One should not read too much into one race. Vingegaard similarly dominated O Gran Camiño last season, before going on to lose to Pogačar at Paris-Nice, a result that led to many of us concluding that the balance of power was heading towards the Slovenian. A lot of bike racing is still to come, but if Vingegaard can back up his Spanish racing at Tirreno-Adriatico next week, firmly in the spotlight, then it will no longer be quietly good, but loudly, ear-splittingly good. Could 2024 be the year of Vingegaard?
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If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.
