As time passes Jonas Vingegaard's return to the Tour de France becomes more clear. Initially the plan could be different, but the route reveal has seen the Dane en route to a title defense, something which is being talked in the ongoing Jumbo-Visma training camp.
“I want to go back to the Tour. It seems very special to me to start with back number 1”, Vingegaard said in an interview with Wielerflits and RIDE Magazine. "I have seen that the Giro d'Italia has enough time trial kilometers that suit me, but I have not looked at that course otherwise."
Whilst Vingegaard has thrived against the clock this year, he has equally thrived in the mountains. Virtually, both routes would see him as a prime candidate at the same level, but Vingegaard has his eyes in a second yellow jersey.
“It looks like it will be another tough race. When I first saw the course, my first feeling was that this was a Tour de France more suited to Tadej Pogačar," he said. In relation to past years however, the route is much more suited to the pure climbers unlike Vingegaard and Pogacar. Mikel Landa, Jai Hindley, Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates are clear examples of riders who will have much better chances of succeeding next year, promising a bigger battle in the mountains.
“The first observation made it clear to me that there are few real high mountains in this Tour. My first feeling was that there are few climbs in the race that suit me. But the more detailed I study this Tour, the more I come to the conclusion that certain stages suit me very well.”
Vingegaard is set to lead the Dutch team in another pursuit of the yellow and green jerseys as he will be teaming up with Wout van Aert. Primoz Roglic's presence will depend on how his health and form develop over the opening months of the season.
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The Tour will only feature 22 kilometers of individual time-trial and that will be a day suited to the climbers. That is a big difference towards the usual route, however another difference has been noticed by Vingegaard: “There is a difference with the last edition, when there were a number of climbs of about three kilometers. They will not be on the course next year."
"It is now more climbs of about ten kilometers, which are all quite difficult. In the last edition, Peyragudes and, for example, La Planche des Belles Filles were slightly shorter, about seven kilometers. The more I look at the course, the more I discover that the 2023 Tour suits me very well," the Dane concluded.
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