"My life has changed" - Jonas Vingegaard on maiden Tour de France win

Jonas Vingegaard started the Tour de France as one of the race's favourites however to imagine that he would be climbing on the top step in Paris with such an advantage over his rivals - Tadej Pogacar in particular - would be a stretch, however now a reality for the Danish climber.

“It’s just incredible, I mean I finally won the Tour... It’s the biggest bike race of the year and I’ve won it! Nobody can take it away from me," Vingegaard said in a post-race interview in Paris. He had crossed the line safely and with his teammates, taking what was his first Grand Tour win - the first of several surely, taking into account how he managed to ride in the mountains and time-trials the 2022 route threw.

"I always had the feeling that I could at least fight for the win, but at the end, Hautacam is the place where I thought I’d win unless something goes wrong," he explained. "This Tour de France has been such a journey for me. I have always believed in myself, and I thought I could beat Tadej [Pogacar] for some months before the Tour.

The Dane profited from an immense climbing prowess, combined with an incredible support from Jumbo-Visma in all terrains. Having both yellow, green and polka dots jerseys conquered, it will have been an incredibly successful race for Jumbo-Visma, who've had six wins and countless days leading the classifications alongside. "I’m happy with the performance of my team. We have been in control of the race the whole time, and super strong. We didn’t make too many mistakes," he said.

"My life has changed, for sure. Maybe I won’t be able to walk back and forth in the street anymore, but hopefully it all will settle in a few months time, like it did last year," he said, despite the happiness of his latest achievement. Although recovery and enjoying his triumph is now his priority, he was also asked about future ambitions.

"My goals for the future? For now I want to enjoy this victory. It would be nice to win this race every year, but let’s take it one year at a time. When I was younger I couldn’t even dream of winning this race. It will be hard to top what we did this month in the future," he concluded.