“Oh, bad memories. It wasn’t the best performance from me
back then, so hopefully, the legs will feel better today. We’ll see,” he said.
Vingegaard recalled the climb where he had initially
launched an attack but ultimately struggled to keep up.
“I do, I do. I remember I attacked first, and then it was a
bit of standing still, and I couldn’t follow anymore.”
With his current form in mind, Vingegaard was asked whether
he would use the stage as an opportunity to gain more time on his rivals.
“It depends a bit on how we feel and how everything is. It
depends on how the breakaway is—I think there will be a lot of guys who want to
go into the breakaway today. So yeah, everything depends on basically how
everyone else is riding as well.”
Vingegaard’s dominance in the race so far has been evident,
but he remains wary of the threats posed by his rivals.
“There’s a lot of guys who are really strong here. UAE has a
very strong team. Also, Jo has a strong team with some strong contenders, and
Trek as well. So yeah, we have to keep an eye on everyone, so to say.”