Vingegaard defends Jumbo-Visma accusations: "Not one of us is taking anything illegal"

Jumbo-Visma have experienced an incredibly successful Tour de France. Despite seeing several of their riders abandon due to crashes, the team has won the yellow and green jerseys whilst also winning six stages. It was an all-out effort which resulted in the maiden Grand Tour victory of Jonas Vingegaard.

“We wanted to win as a team, and we did. We had was a really good group of riders and worked really well together. The team spirit was one of the best I've experienced," Vingegaard shared in an interview with Cyclingnews. "The moment when Wout worked for me on the stage to Hautacam highlighted the way the guys rode for me but they committed to the race plan every day and we executed it perfectly. That makes me especially proud."

Vingegaard took over the lead of the Tour as he won stage 11, when Tadej Pogacar cracked in the Col du Granon following a flurry of attacks from the Dutch team. Throughout Alpe d'Huez, Mende and Peyragudes the attacks were many from the Slovenian, but Vingegaard managed to resist each one, and in the final mountain stage to Hautacam he counter-attacked the early moves, and managed to ride into the stage win in yellow.

“It was after Hautacam when I really started believing. I mean, I always believed in it, but Hautacam was the point when I thought something had to go wrong for me not to win," he continued, revealing that despite a week of surviving the attacks of Tadej Pogacar, it was only on the very last mountain of the Tour that he was confident he would be taking the win.

He also puts aside the accusations that have fell on the team throughout the summer: “We are totally clean, every one of us, and I can say that to every one of you. Not one of us is taking anything illegal. I think why we are so good is because of the preparation we do. We take altitude camps to the next level, and everything: materials, food and training. I think the team is really the best in this. That’s why you have to trust us.”

With Wout van Aert winning three stages and obliterating the points classification, and the likes of Christophe Laporte and Sepp Kuss riding in superb form into Paris, it was the result of months of work, and also of a selection battle inside the team to enter the Tour with it's very best 8 riders, planting their full focus on the Grand Boucle.

Vingegaard and Roglic spearheaded this goal, preparing together and dominating the Critérium du Dauphiné beforehand. Planning that was written down in it's every detail, and has functioned just as hoped for the Dane. “I like the part where I prepare for a big race, the training and preparation. It’s interesting for me to see what I can do better, where we can learn from the year before and do better every year,” he continued. 

“I’m always thinking about the process and how it could be better. I’ve already been thinking about it for next season too. For example, I really want to avoid getting sick after Liège-Bastogne-Liège and so slowing my build-up to the Tour de France," Vingegaard admits. It is unknown yet if he will defend his title in the upcoming season or will opt to ride the Giro d'Italia, but the picture will be clearer after tomorrow's route presentation.