Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard claimed his maiden Tour de France title after the 21st and final stage with Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, the winner of the two previous editions, finishing second overall with Britain’s Geraint Thomas finishing third.
His win completes a remarkable rise for the 25-year-old who five years ago worked as a fish packer in a factory in the morning before training in the afternoon before finishing a surprise second last year.
Belgian Jasper Philipsen won the final stage in a sprint ahead of Dutch Dylan Groenewegen and Norway’s Alexander Kristoff, who were second and third respectively with Vingegaard content on reaching home safely.
Vingegaard laid the foundations of his victory in the 10th stage when he and his teammate Primoz Roglic attacked the reigning champion Pogacar relentlessly and made him crack in the climb up to the Col du Granon. Pogacar hit back time and time again but Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma team contained the battling Slovenian.
He effectively sealed the win when he claimed another win at Hautacam in the final mountain stage.
Overall, Jonas Vingegaard won the Tour de France by two minutes and 43 seconds ahead of Pogacar while winning the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification. Geraint Thomas, the 2018 champion, ended up a distant third overall, 7:22 off the pace, in a race that took place under the cloud of COVID-19, with 17 riders pulling out after contracting the virus.
Vingegaard is the first Dane to win the Tour since Bjarne Riis, who kept his 1996 title despite later admitting to doping.
