"The course of 2022 suited me better, but I also like this one" - Mixed feelings for Jonas Vingegaard on 2023 Tour de France

Jonas Vingegaard has won the 2022 Tour de France, but questions over his title defense in 2023 are still obvious, as Jumbo-Visma are yet to make a decision on where the Dane will focus on the coming year. He has shared more thoughts on the route in a recent interview.

“It’s a hard route. Maybe the course of 2022 suited me better, but I also like this one,” the defending champion told AS. “I especially like stages like Col de la Loze (stage 17, ed.). There are a lot of difficult finales, and as always very challenging stages. And I think we can take advantage of the longer climbers. It’s interesting.”  

A route where the climbs will have the most importance, Vingegaard believes the lack of time-trialing kilometers are not something that will benefit him. This year he has shown the quality on all terrains however, specifically thriving in the days with several high-mountain ascents.

“I want to continue at this level, return to the Tour and fight again to try to win it. I hope to be able to defend my title, but we still have to speak about it as a team. We still haven’t decided on the 2023 calendar yet or the objectives for everyone.” He, Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert are all stated for a possible stint at the Giro d'Italia, but that remains to be decided in the coming months.

The Dane has talked about an historic edition of the Tour: “It was very emotional to start the Tour in my country, in front of my people. It was a big motivation. And after what I had achieved, to be able to celebrate with everyone was an immense joy. The reception was incredible.

“It was an incredible season, obviously. I wouldn’t say that I was dreaming of it, but after finishing second in 2021 I knew that I could take another step this year. The top objective of this season was the Tour and it was unbeatable," he continued.

Vingegaard returned to competition late in the season with wins at the Cro Race after a long break, and since the off-season has started he's been at both the Singapore and Japan Tour de France criteriums. “The team was at a spectacular level and thanks to them everything went perfectly. Jumbo is and will be very strong, and not only in the Tour, but in every race we went to, we were always racing for the win. It was a great season for us," he said of Jumbo-Visma, with whom he has a contract with until 2024.

“I have a lot of rivals. I would say Pogačar is the top rival, based on what we saw at the Tour, but Remco already revealed in the second half of the season of what he is capable of. Ineos is a very strong bloc overall, and Enric Mas also ended the season well. There are a lot of rivals," he concluded.