Jonas Vingegaard has survived the gravel stage of the Tour de France despite two punctures and a bicycle change.
“In some way, it would have been better to ride because Primoz and Remco were not there. But on the other hand, our goal was not to lose time, so maybe it was better to wait”, said Jonas Vingegaard about his refusal to pull in the group that he was part along with Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar.
“I’m, of course, very relieved that I made it safely to the finish without losing any time and only two punctures. I had one when I got onto Jan’s bike, and actually, it happened again in the last three kilometres. That was only half a puncture, but I could still finish on the same bike.
“So I owe all my teammates a big big thank you, and they did super well today. Jan gave me the bike; it was a perfect fit, and the rest of the guys kept me in the front. I entered every sector in first position and they even closed the gap for me one time when I couldn’t follow. So, I owe them big time after one.”
“Tadej was [the strongest]. But also the gravel favours him also more than favours me, specially when the gravel was looser.”
“For a guy of my weight, it’s [looser gravel] is not favourable, and that was also when he got a small gap on me; it was probably the worst sector of all. It was so loose that I was just sliding around, to be honest. It was really hard for me to control the bike.”
Vingegaard expressed again his opposition to the inclusion of gravel stages on Grand Tours.
“I think maybe after the crash, I realised what life was about,” Vingegaard said, “And it’s more about family and living life rather than cycling, so maybe in that way I feel less pressure, and I enjoy it more.”
