The shy hillbilly has grown to become the captain of his team with the advice of his spouse.
The Dane leading the tour of France Jonas Vingegaard, 25, worked morning shifts at the age of 19 at a fish factory in Hanstholm on the shores of the North Sea. A career as a professional had not taken off on the first try.
– He lacked organization and routine and slept late, the then manager of Vingegaard’s first team ColoQuick Christian Andersen remembered (you switch to another service). He recommended Vingegaard a job at the factory.
Packing cod made the young Dane tough, taught him the discipline needed in professional cycling and brought a counterweight to cycling.
– I liked working at the fish factory, even though I had to wake up at five in the morning. It was actually quite relaxing not having to think about anything. I only packed cod and sole and took care of the paperwork, Vingegaard said For Gazzetta dello Sport (you will switch to another service).
– I wouldn’t have had to work, but I still didn’t know if I would become a professional. I raced in Denmark a couple of times a week, and that’s how I managed to stay busy.
Like made for a hill rider
Vingegaard, who grew up in the village of Hillerslev, enthusiastically enjoyed handball, swimming and badminton as a child. He did not succeed in football because of his small size.
Vingegaard’s spark for cycling was ignited at the age of 10 in 2007, when Claus Vingegaard took his son to see the Tour of Denmark stage a couple of kilometers from home.
Vingegaard wanted to try the sport and immediately excelled in the test run of the local club. He made it to the podium in his first race.
However, the flat and windy roads of Denmark did not favor the talented but thin Vingegaard, whose growth spurt only started at the age of 17.
However, the skinny Dane was made for uphill adventures. Vingegaard first got into the alpine landscape at the age of 16, when he was on a training trip in Italy with his father.
– After that I realized that I wasn’t funnier at all, Vingegaard said.
The top team Jumbo-Visma noticed a promising hill man when he had set a record time in the training camp on the climb of the Coll de Rates in Spain. For the 2019 season, Vingegaard moved to a Dutch team as a professional.
In the following season, Vingegaard worked By Primoz Roglic co-driver in the tour of Spain, which was won by the Slovenian pedaler from Jumbo-Visma.
In 2021, the Dane came into the spotlight when team captain Roglic stopped the Tour of France and Vingegaard was promoted to the number one driver in his place. Vingegaard withstood the pressure and finished second in his first Tour, only to lose to the superior To Tadej Pogacar.
Spouse taught impudence
Only from the Danes Bjarne Riis has won the biggest cycling race in 1996. In 2007, however, he admitted that he had used doping. In the end, the achievement was not taken away from Riis, because more than ten years had passed since the mistake.
With his Tour success last year, Vingegaard instantly became a popular favorite and a celebrity. Vingegaard is shy by nature, and when he was younger he didn’t talk to strangers much.
Vingegaard and his spouse By Trine Hansen has a two-year-old daughter Frida. The pair met at Vingegaard’s first stable, ColoQuick, where Hansen was the marketing manager.
Hansen has taught her husband that you can’t and shouldn’t please everyone.
– If you want to be the captain of the team, you have to be visible and know how to take your position. No one will follow if they are not ready to keep their heads down. Not as a cyclist, husband or father, Hansen said (you will switch to another service).
The spouse has indeed made Vingegaard more confident. The Dane announced in March at the Jumbo-Visma meeting that he wants to captain the team in France. The team agreed to the request and started the competition with the tactics of two captains (Vingegaard and Roglic).
Vingegaard’s close circle already has experience in the public sphere. His mother-in-law Rosa Kildahl is a reality TV celebrity. Kildahl rose to prominence in the Great Danish Bake Off baking program and has also appeared in the Danish Dancing with the Stars program.
Pogacar plans to attack in the mountains
The victory of the Tour de France will be decided in a shootout between Vingegaard, 25, and Pogacar, 23. Five of the Tour’s 21 stages remain.
The decisive moment in terms of the fight for victory could already be seen on stage 11. Pogacar of UAE Emirates, who won the previous two Tours, looked weak for the first time when Vingegaard struck on the mountain climb.
Pogacar attacked too greedily on the stage after the jerks of Jumbo-Visma. Vingegaard took his chance on the last climb, tearing almost three minutes away from the Slovenian. Before Wednesday’s stage, the difference was 2.22 in favor of Vingegaard. Third, 21 seconds behind Pogacar, is Ineos Grenadiers Geraint Thomas.
Pogacar admitted that he made a misjudgment when the drivers of Jumbo-Visma pulled at a high speed in the front.
– Maybe I was a bit stupid. I should have saved my strength. “I was excellent on the Galibier slope, but I paid a heavy price for it on the last climb,” said Pogacar For Velonews (you will switch to another service).
Vingegaard’s team had small setbacks at the end of the second week. The team’s drivers were involved in a crash on the 15th stage on Sunday. A strong co-driver of the team Steven Kruijswijk hurt his shoulder badly and had to retire.
Even before that stage, Roglic had to leave the race. The Slovenian was injured on a cobblestone patch at the beginning of the Tour and is now trying to rehabilitate for the Tour of Spain.
– Losing strong co-drivers is not a good thing, but we still have a strong team. UAE will certainly try to attack in the Pyrenees, but in the end the race will be decided man against man, Vingegaard tuumi (you switch to another service).
Vingegaard has five assistants left for the decisive stages. Likewise with Pogacar, whose team has suffered from corona infections. Vegard Stake Laengen had to leave the race in the middle because of the corona after only seven stages. George Bennett met the same fate a couple of stages later.
The last mountain stages are pedaled in the Pyrenees. Pogacar intends to attack on every climb.
On Wednesday and Thursday, we will still pedal in the Pyrenees. On Friday, there is a 188.5 kilometer flat stage. On Saturday, a personal time trial of 40.7 kilometers will be run, where it is still possible to make decisions. The race ends on Sunday in Paris, where traditionally only lettermen compete for positions.