Jonas Vingegaard, double winner of the Tour de France, is making his return to the Gran Camino this Thursday, February 22, a stage race in Spain that he flew over last year. The Dane could enter the closed circle of runners who have won three Grandes Boucles next summer.
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Stage race runner, Jonas Vingegaard will have practically the same program as during the 2023 season for the start of the season. Apart from Paris-Nice, which he finished on the third step of the podium, and which he replaced by Tirreno-Adriatico in March in Italy, the orbiting will follow the same trajectory with the Tour of the Basque Country in April and the Critérium du Dauphiné in June, two races of which he was the outgoing winner.
Being in a time trial
In the meantime, Jonas Vingegaard will be in Galicia, for the third edition of the Gran Camino, which took over from the historic Tour of Galicia. “ We loved this event last year. The organization is excellent, the stages are demanding and there is a time trial, an essential exercise for the rest of the season knowing that the Tour de France will end with a time trial in Nice this year », explains Robert Wagner, sports director at Visma-Lease a bike, Vingegaard’s team.
Only six World Tour teams (1st division) made the trip. There will still be a lot of people at the start of the initial 14 km time trial in La Coruña – followed by three very mountainous stages – including in particular the Colombian Egan Bernalwinner of the Tour de France in 2019, and the Ecuadorian Richard Carapazreigning Olympic road champion and who won the Tour of Italy in 2019. The Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez, fifth in the last Tour de France, as well as the French David Gaudu and Lenny Martinez, will also be present.
The “fantastic four” on the 2024 Tour de France
In 2023, Jonas Vingegaard won everything in Galicia: the three stages contested – the first was stopped due to snow – and the general. Jonas Vingegaard, who wants to defend his title in Galicia, has not raced since his second place in the general classification of the Tour of Spain last September.
Jonas Vingegaard, 27, is the second of the “fantastic four” to return to competition this season after the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, winner last Sunday of the Tour of the Algarve. His former teammate, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, who joined the German team Bora-Hansgrohe this winter, should make his return to Paris-Nice (March 3-10) while Tadej Pogacar is expected on March 2 at Strade Bianche. If all goes well, these four riders will meet this summer on the roads of the Tour de France (June 29-July 21) for a battle of the leaders.
For Vingegaard, the objective for 2024 will above all be to join Louison Bobet, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain and Chris Froome with a third consecutive coronation on the Grande Boucle. An immense challenge for someone who made his professional debut working for two years in a fishmonger before joining the ColoQuick cycling team at the age of 22.