Jonas Vingegaard at La Vuelta: "It’s nice that there is not as much stress as there is in the Tour"

Jonas Vingegaard is the big star of this year's Vuelta a Espana and most likely the man to beat for the overall classification. After stage 1 the leader of Team Visma | Lease a Bike has gotten through unscathed and is being able to enjoy the lack of stress and pressure compared to the Tour de France's Grand Depart.

Certainly there is something to be argued regarding the location of the start of the race, far away from Spanish roads, but there is no race that draws the same amount of attention as the Tour de France. There, on the opening days of the race - besides the regular questions - Vingegaard was also thoroughly asked about his wife Trine's interview that had been released just ahead of the Tour in which she wasn't overly happy with the team's treatment of the Dane; and of course he would be asked on the daily regarding Tadej Pogacar, how to beat him, and occasionally Wout van Aert.

At the Vuelta the mood is much quieter and calmer, and stage 1 into Novara proved to be a smooth day where the sprinters had the spotlight and Visma had the head of the peloton until 2 kilometers to go, keeping it's leader safe mostly through the work of Victor Campenaerts on the flat roads.

“It was actually a calm day. It wasn’t that stressful, so it was actually a nice day where we got through it just fine. Of course, it’s something different than in the Tour," Vingegaard said in words to TV2. "There is a bit more stress in the Tour, so in a way you also have to get used to the fact that this is not the Tour. But it’s nice that there is not as much stress as there is in the Tour.” Stage 2 will already be an interesting test to gauge his form as the riders tackle their first summit finish into Limone.