MADRID, 21 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) described his team’s stage this Thursday as a “masterpiece” to hit the table and leave the victory in the Tour de France tied, although he pointed out that there are still important days and ” dangerous”.
“It’s been a perfect day for Jumbo-Visma, a masterpiece from the whole team. Every single one of my teammates has been fantastic. Chris [Laporte] He’s been really strong, Nathan. [van Hooydonck] has climbed like a climber, Tiesj [Benoot] has appeared since the breakout at the perfect time, Sepp [Kuss] It’s been amazing, and Wout [van Aert] he hit the acceleration that Tadej picked up [Pogacar]. They’ve been fantastic and I couldn’t have won today without them,” he said after crossing the finish line.
The yellow jersey prevailed in the last appointment in the Pyrenees, the last bullet for Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) to try to cut in the general. “The stage was incredibly tough and I’m happy to have won it. Tadej was very strong today. His attacks were very powerful”, he pointed out.
In addition, the Dane explained the moment of the Slovenian’s fall and confessed that in the end he was just out of strength. “During the descent he took a wrong turn, stepped on gravel and the bike got stuck in it. I decided to wait for him. I was afraid he would attack me on the final climb, because I was really on the limit. I was only sure of winning today when Wout told him dropped 4.5 kilometers from the finish line”, he stated.
After his victory in the eighteenth stage this Thursday, Vingegaard has a lead of almost three and a half minutes to be crowned in Paris. “What if I’ve already won the Tour? No, tomorrow’s stage could be dangerous, and then we have a time trial. I prefer to take things day by day and stay focused on the race. We’ll talk about my overall victory in a couple of days,” he finished.