Yellow parade for Vingegaard to lift his second Tour

When Tour Director Christian Prudhomme entered the Diputación de Vizcaya garage on December 14, 2020 to announce to the Basque institutions that the 2023 Gala Round would start from Bilbao, he brought an additional gift: an edition Big Boucle the most exciting and media event of recent decades. Bilbao, Vitoria, San Sebastián and Amorebieta, the departures and goals of the three initial stages, opened the curtain on the duel for history, which from 2021 is held by the Slovenian without a muzzle and capable of anything, Tadej Pogačarand extraordinary introverted Danish climber, Jonas Vingegaard, who just won his second Tour. A step below, the fifth place of the novice carlos rodriguez and sixth place from bilbao hair announce the resurgence of the Spanish peloton.

The final parade in Paris, with a narrow victory in the sprint by the Belgian Jordi Meeus, was an introduction to the catwalk on the Champs Elysées platform. Vingegaard and Pogacar were accompanied on the podium by a teammate from Slovenia, Adam Yates. Two cyclists from the UAE followed the Dane. “I will try to win the next Tour,” warned Vingegaard. In 2021, in his debut, his role was that of Primoz Roglić’s company. Until the Slovenian fell and retired. It took them a few days on the Jumbo to tell Vingegaard that the stripes were his. He finished second after Pogačar. 2022 already beat him.

If Vingegaard was second once and first twice in the three Tours he played in, Pogačar is not far behind: in four participations he has two golds (2020 and 2021) and two silvers (2022 and 2023).

Plan

If the race was already spectacular last year, this edition is overflowing with emotions from the beginning. On the Basque roads, a fight broke out between Vingegaard and Pogacar. The Danish team had a plan. Drown your opponent. This one, injured in the spring when he fell on Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he had barely a few weeks to prepare for the French round: “We knew it was impossible for Tadej to be 100 percent,” admits Mauro Gianetti, UAE manager. Vingegaard’s domestiques pushed hard on every stage, on every climb. Fatigue accumulated in Pogačar, but despite this, he did not stop hitting his opponent. The Dane, confident of his victory in 2022, stepped up with aplomb. He had patience.

After two weeks as Siamese twins, they were separated by a stage that was run separately, 22 kilometers on time. Vingegaard, aggressive in every corner, gave all his power: “I thought my power meter broke.” He crushed it with his energy. He broke Pogačar. The Dane, a small climber, broke the clock. His rival accused psychological blow, even more than a minute and a half that he lost. And it sank in the most difficult port of the Tour, Loze. I learned to suffer, admitted Pogačar. He is so talented that riding a bike has always been easy for him. With Vingegaard he saw another side.

That afternoon he arrived at his destination submerged. He apologized to the family that tucked him in. This was seen on Saturday, when Pogačar won the last mountain stage. The drowned man raised his head from the water and let out a cry of rage, of revenge, which will echo until it begins in Florence next edition. Tour of 2024. And already in that next race, the continuation of this legendary duel is expected. Both have won the Tour twice. Will there be a tie or will a third main actor emerge?