Tour de France: Jonas Vingegaard wins Tour for the first time in his career as Britain’s Geraint Thomas finishes third | Cycling News

Jonas Vingegaard was forced to finish second on last year’s Tour behind winner Tadej Pogačar; Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen wins Stage 21 after finishing the sprint on the Champs-Elysees; Geraint Thomas of England finished third overall.

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, drinks champagne at his team director’s car during Stage 21

Jonas Vingegaard claimed his first Tour de France title after stage 21 and the final leg on Sunday, completing the victory he effectively marked in the mountains after a classic bout with Tadej Pogacar .

The 25-year-old, who five years ago was working as a fish-packer in a factory in the morning before training in the afternoon, landed a surprising second place last year.

He completed Sunday’s trip to the Champs Elysees safely in the group as Belgian Jasper Philipsen won the final leg of the sprint against Dylan Groenewegen of the Netherlands and Alexander Kristoff of Norway, who ranked second and third respectively.

“It’s unbelievable. Now I’ve finally won the Tour. Now nothing can go wrong and I’m sitting here with my daughter and it’s unbelievable,” Vingegaard said. speak.

“It’s the biggest bike race of the year, the biggest race you can win and now I’ve done it and no one can take this away from me.

“First of all, I’m very happy about my win. Of course I want to celebrate, I want to relax, but then I always want more.”

Vingegaard laid the groundwork for his victory on stage 10, when he and teammate Primoz Roglic attacked Pogacar relentlessly and cracked him during the climb to Col du Granon.

Pogacar hit back again and again but Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma team managed to hold back the aggressive Slovenian, with the new champion claiming victory as he clinched another victory at Hautacam in last leg.

Overall, Vingegaard, who burst into the limelight last year, finished ahead of Pogacar and also won the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification.

Geraint Thomas, the 2018 champion, finished in third place overall in the race that took place under the COVID-19 cloud, with 17 drivers disqualified after contracting the virus.

Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team dominated the Tour, winning six of the 21 races while defending Dane throughout, especially during the moment of panic when he suffered a mechanical failure on the cobblestone leg of the week. Opening.

The Netherlands took the lead heading into the Champs Elysees on Sunday, but they stayed at the bottom of the table in the straight final as Vingegaard and his teammates enjoyed the moment.