The 2023 us would give us asylum for having dared such a title. Barely two years ago, any cycling lover would have paid dearly to put an end to the domination of Jonas Vingegaard on the Tour de France, the day after his double sealed with more than seven minutes (seven!) In advance on a Tadej Pogacar crébouillé in Combloux then in the Col de la Loze. The Danish had aroused the suspicions and had to clear it – “I do not dope,” he said. The others said it before, but I am clean ” -, and his monotonous style of racing coupled with a cold temperament had made him unpopular in the eyes of the public.
And then 2024 went through there. In a year, Tadej Pogacar did better than take revenge on the Tour de France: he also trampled on the Giro and the online race for the world championships. In parallel, Jonas Vingegaard saw his life scrolling before a heavy fall on the Tour of the Basque Country. Having almost died during the pregnancy of his wife made him consider retreat, he cries by thinking about it in his interviews but recoveries, half in love, half disgusted of this sport which he intends to prohibit his children. “If my daughter or my son asks me the question” dad, can we participate in races? “, The answer will be” no “, it’s simply too dangerous,” he regretted in an interview with Newspaper.
“In France, we like losers”
We may not have asked so much to discover that the impassive twenty could suffer like the other runners. On the Tour de France 2024 and for the first time since his first yellow jersey, the Danish face carried on him the stigma of the effort. The image of the breathless runner, a wide open mouth, in pursuit of the Pogacar machine – Reversed reflection of the Tour de France 2023 – was repeated on the Critérium du Dauphiné 2025, where he tried in vain to follow the brutal rhythm of the attacks of his rival. “In France, we like losers, smiles Steve Chainel, consultant for Eurosport. Now it’s been two years since Pogi crushed Vingegaard. When he explodes, Jonas gives everything, he is at the cleat, he grimaces. So, inevitably, he has this little coast of sympathy that is created, with this idea that he is the best of human guys. That’s why it is more appreciated. »»
From “more appreciated” to “acclaimed”, there is a gap that no one dares to cross. The path to popularity, if it is coveting it, is still long for the leader of the Visma-Lease A Bike. “You just have to look at the kids who are between 10 and 15 years old, up to almost junior,” continues Chainel. They want to copy Pogacar, they want to copy Evenepoel, and then Van Aert, Van der Poel… At no time do they cite Vingegaard. It must be said that he is a fundamentally shy guy, he is very mature and not necessarily whimsical. “Less skillful than the other stars of the peloton with the media, less present on the networks, in short, less rockstar, the Scandinavian climber prefers to find his family in the arrival area rather than spending time chatting with his peers and sharpening his image within the cycling caste. His wife and manager, Trine Marie Hansen, did not abdicate to improve her communication. “Jonas tends to hide his emotions, we worked together so that he opens more,” she said in 2022. For the moment, it was especially she who is responsible for being talked about, as during his brazier interview just before the start of the round.
Vingegaard less cool than a Alaphilippe, but nice anyway
Those who meet him on the road to his training depicts a Jonas Vingegaard still focused on minimum service in his human relationships, with nice guy option, all the same. Contacted by 20 Minutesthe Ukrainian blogger Artem Shcherbyna is used to following runners of the professional peloton, and came across the double winner of the Tour in mid-May, while the latter was on an internship in Sierra Nevada (Spain).
“I had a jersey of the Visma that he agreed to sign me. I asked him a few questions about the duration of his internship, his form, these kinds of things, and he let me film it by staying in his wheel. He is a nice guy, but he is less open and friendly than other runners. Julian Alaphilippe, for example, asked me where I came from, how long I was riding, he also asked me questions about my blogger activity, when Jonas was only answering mine without really showing any desire to discuss a little more. »»
The testimony of another amateur cyclo, Paul Capelle with Danish television, is less severe against twenty, with whom he was able to roll for four hours in the Pyrenees. “He was also interested in me. He asked me what I was doing in sport, asked me if I participated in races. It was incredible. He was incredibly kind. »»
Rather Team Pogacar at the base, the young man came out up of his bike ride with the Danish. A first victory for Vingegaard over the Slovenian, while waiting for a miracle on the Tour? Before seeing the Danish flank during the Caen time trial on Wednesday, Steve Chainel did not completely spread this possibility. “We know that Vingegaard is very good in the third week and that he has a very enduring body, probably a little more than Pogacar. And precisely, we have a very hard third week, so I would really like Vingegaard to limit the breakage at the start of the turn to see what it would give in the third week. It’s off to a bad start, but all the hopes of vibrating a little on this tower are on Jonas’s shoulders and it’s enough to love him.
