The Tour de France 2022 was full of twists and turns, no one ever speculated. When the first time trial was held, all eyes were on Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) as he was considered to be undefeatable at the tour. But Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) tried his luck and decided to challenge the proclaimed winner. On Sunday, 24th July, Vingegaard was pronounced the winner of Tour de France 2022.
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Although Pogacar gave an exceptional performance at the tour, yet he confessed that he still had a lot to learn from our crowned winner. Nonetheless, Vingegaard always believed in himself, and that’s what has earned him the number one’s place on podium. Talking about how much it is important to have self-confidence, he said:
I always had the feeling that I could at least fight for the win
He himself was in utter disbelief of his achievement as he said:
In the end, it was after Hautacam when I really started believing. I mean, I always believed in it, but Hautacam was the point when I thought something had to go wrong for me not to win
The last stage of the Tour was won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Vingegaard admitted that after the Saturday’s time trial, he was feeling quite worn-off. For the last stage, instead of focusing on sprinting and taking breakaways, he wanted to enjoy every moment of it with his teammates. He truly felt grateful as he crossed the finished line, accompanied by his teammates all together. Holding his adorable infant in one hand, he addressed the audience from the stage:
It was difficult after winning the time trial yesterday to rest and recharge, so today on the bus, I said I didn’t want to concentrate on the sprint all day,I wanted to enjoy the moment with my teammates instead. I’m very happy with my choice. It was an extraordinary moment to cross the line with the team all together.
Jumbo-Visma has performed exceptionally well at this year’s tour. They won six stages altogether and also had three jerseys to their name. One can say that their win was well deserved.
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Before closing off, Vingegaard thanked his rival Tadej Pogačar for giving him such a tough match. When he was asked about his next plans, he said:
Of course, I’m super happy about my victory now, and I want to celebrate and relax,But then I also want more
Also Read: Wout Van Aert: The Tour De France’s “Super-Combatif.”
Feature Image Via YouTube/ FloBikes
