"If there is an opportunity, we will try to take it" - Jonas Vingegaard opens door to stage 1 attack if echelons emerge at Tour de France
Cycling
For the fifth time in his career, Jonas Vingegaard starts the Tour de France this afternoon in Lille. In all of his previous appearance at the French Grand Tour, the Dane has never finished below 2nd in the general classification. This year though, it's all about winning and regaining control of the Maillot Jaune.
"To be honest, I had a pretty good night of sleep. I slept for nine and a half hours, which I don't do often with kids (laughs). So yeah, it was a good night's sleep and I'm ready for this race, really looking forward to it," said the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader in his pre-stage 1 interview with TNT Sports at the startline.
Once again, Vingegaard's main rival for the Maillot Jaune will be Tadej Pogacar as the Dane and the Slovenian write the 5th chapter in their epic Grand Tour rivalry. "I really like this race, it's the most special race in cycling," assesses Vingegaard. "So I think for everyone, it's nice to get here and to fight for the victory. Hopefully I can fight for the victory!"
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"The plan was to just see how it was in the Dauphine and from there, see what we had to fine tune," continues the two-time Tour de France winner. "Obviously, we could see that especially on the longer climbs, I was losing a bit of time. So we had to see if I could do something."
All smiles between Pogacar and Vingegaard at the startline
On stage 1 though, there are no mountains to challenge the peloton. Instead there is the threat of wind and echelons. "We have a very strong team for this," he says unbothered by the prospect. "We said the other day that we basically have a Classics team here, so we have the team for this. And if there is an opportunity, we will try to take it."
🇫🇷 #TDF2025
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) July 5, 2025
🎙️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/0PGEVbM2A8
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- So all those who went to watch, including all from abroad, waled there, spent nothing? Most places hosting events of the sort manage to make it worthwhile. If it was so obviously fruitless, don’t you think by now they’d have run out of hosting candidates? Why do you think the Tour can command such high prices for departure and arrival locations? If it didn’t bring anything locally they’d have to pay to get authorisation to use cities.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- What a travesty ! That little deviation did nothing to impede Brand !frieders307-11-2026
- I also wanne beat Pogacar in the tour but it aint gonne happen. Jonas unfortunately getting dropped by del toro and seixas several times this TDF and jonas team is very weak and joinas on way down, it aint happening thats clear. its also clear it only happened cause Pogacar was hurt and had a broken wrist that time everytime both full strenght its not close we just have to be honest about it :/miguel07-11-2026
- They do this but literally let cars on courses to run over riders.mij07-11-2026
- Looking at that photo she appears to be several feet from her. I’m not sure how that impeded brands sprint.mij07-11-2026
- I hope you are wrong but I suspect you will be proved correct. It might do something for Scottish tourism - although due to logistics the route skips the most spectacular parts of Scotland. It will bring in short term money no doubt, but will cycling overall in the U,K benifit? I doubt it. Even at £2 a litre the bits love thei cars,Cyclingsbestfan07-11-2026
- Lucky to not get disqualified
leedorney07-11-2026 - The road from Holyrood to Edinburgh Castle is a nice steady climb of just over a mile that is cobbled in many parts. (Very slippery if wet!) If the teams are going by one by one that will give fans an even better view of the riders up close than the castle esplanade.Cyclingsbestfan07-11-2026
- wtf dudemij07-11-2026
- big rival … ridiculous.Ketterechts07-11-2026
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