Everything about... Jonas Vingegaard - The new Tour de France superstar

Jonas Vingegaard is Danish pro cyclist who is most known for winning the Tour de France. His famous story, from fish factory worker to Tour de France winner in a few years has been incredibly popular, whilst he led the Jumbo-Visma team to it's ultimate goal in 2022. You can check the biography at all times by clicking here. 

Name: Jonas Vingegaard
Born: 10 December 1996
Birthplace: Thy, Denmark
Turned Pro: 2016
Height: 1.75m

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Jonas Vingegaard was born on the 10th of December 1996 in the town of Thy in Denmark. He is a Danish climber who has recently taken to the top of road cycling with an abrupt ascent within Jumbo-Visma, reaching his highest potential to win the Tour de France in 2022.

Vingegaard is married to Trine Hansen, with the couple having their first child in 2020. His mother-in-law is a famous Danish TV star, and he has had an upbringing through a fish-related job exactly alike former compatriot and rider Michael Valgren. He is a very reserved figure within the peloton, and factors such as his salary and FTP are completely unknown to the public eye.

Vingegaard entered cycling with 11 years of age in his hometown of Thy, in his local Cyckle Ring club which he spent five years with, before moving to the Aalborg Cykle Ring in 2013 as his talent was beginning to be discovered. His final junior year, in 2014, also didn't see him stand out from the crowd, however had shown enough potential and achieved enough results to jump into the under-23 field with the Odder Cykel Club, where he spent his 2015 season and the first half of 2016.

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In 2016 he signed with Danish Continental team ColoQuick-Cult, effectively entering the pro ranks. Throughout this period is where his famous story as a fish factory worker took place, as he worked in the town of Hanstholm throughout the week, combining it with his cycling ambitions. This year he showed his first glimpses of potential at the pro peloton with a second place in the 2.1 Tour of China I, however distant still from what he was to achieve later on. His 2017 went rather similar until May, when a crash saw Vingegaard suffer a broken femur at the Tour des Fjords which sidelined him throughout the rest of the year.

In 2018, his final year before joining Jumbo-Visma in the World Tour, Vingegaard didn't have too many results to show for, although an occasional good day had him near the top. He won the mountain time-trial at the Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta Mont Blanc, a result that brought the attention of some pro teams, and he managed to secure a contract with the Dutch team, albeit only as a young talent who would be working for the team leaders. His first year at World Tour level was also not too flashy, although towards the end of the season he showed good form and achieved some results.

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Vingegaard won the queen stage of the Tour de Pologne, effectively breaking through into the spotlight as a new strong rider. Weeks later he would go on to finish second at his home Tour of Denmark, but his role remained with Jumbo-Visma. 2020, the year where the Covid-19 pandemic cause the most chaos, saw Vingegaard start his season only in August at the Tour de Pologne where he finished on the Top10. As Primoz Roglic rode to his second GC win, Vingegaard supported him in the main mountain stages, showing his quality in the highly mountainous terrain, most noticeably the brutal Alto de l'Angliru. In 2021 he won the summit finish at Jebel Jais at the UAE Tour, famously being confused with teammate Chris Harper at the time, further showcasing the point that he was relatively unknown in the peloton.

Over the coming months he was to change that however, riding into the GC win at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali where he took stage wins, and right after finishing second in the GC of Itzulia Basque Country whilst supporting Primoz Roglic to the win. His growing role as Roglic's right-hand man earned him a position at the Tour de France, where he started the race with a domestique, although having strong arguments for himself after a strong time-trial on stage 5, having him in the Top10 of the race. It was on the first high-mountain stage however that he's consolidated himself as a GC contender, as after Roglic's abandon Vingegaard finished amongst the main GC group to climb into fifth position. On the 11th stage, Vingegaard attacked and effectively dropped Tadej Pogacar at Mont Ventoux. Although later caught, his position as an incredibly gifted climber had been proven.

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Throughout the rest of the race Vingegaard was consistent, finishing second in both summit finishes at the Pyrenees - where Pogacar won - and third in the final time-trial, riding into a runner-up position in the final classification. The rest of his season was modest, but he was to enter 2022 in a leading position within the team, and as a new leader. Early in the year he further cemented that position, winning the Drôme Classic and finishing second to Pogacar once again at Tirreno-Adriatico. As Jumbo-Visma set plans to win the Tour de France, the Dane was well part of the plan to attack Tadej Pogacar, as Vingegaard and Roglic headed to the race with a co-leadership, supported by an immensely strong team.

Before the Tour the duo dominated the Critérium du Dauphiné, riding to first and second in the GC, with Vingegaard winning the final and queen stage after giving signals of superiority in the longer ascents. With Roglic crashing in the 5th stage of the race and losing time, Vingegaard had become the superior card to play for Jumbo at the Tour, as over the opening week he looked to be Pogacar's closest competitor. On stage 11, one of the most explosive of the 2022 season, Pogacar was attacked several times at the Col du Galibier, the highest point of the race. Later on, Vingegaard would attack the Col du Granon to take the stage win, the yellow jersey, but most importantly almost three minutes to Pogacar.

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This lead was immense. What would follow throughout the following two weeks however would be a consistently aggressive posture from the defending champion, to which Vingegaard had to respond. Alpe d'Huez, Mende, Foix, Peyragudes and Hautacam hosted five different finales where he was put to the test, but responded promptly every time, with the duo a level above the competition. He rode a strong time-trial to take the overall win and the yellow jersey, with an extra win at Hautacam to bring home even more achievements. This was an immense win, with Vingegaard being received by roaring crowds back in Denmark, and later he fell out of the public eye to assimilate all his recent success with his family back at home.

Vingegaard finished his season with two stage wins at the Cro Race and a strong but modest 16th place at Il Lombardia.

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