Jonas Vingaard’s Dominance in Tour de France 2023 Grows with Double Victory in Sight

Jonas Vingaard’s smile is inversely proportional to what remains of a Tour de France 2023 in which he now appears ever closer to a double. Dominator of the time trial yesterday, taking his advantage to almost two minutes, after today’s stage the gap on Tadej Pogacar is now 7’35 “, which seems like a solid mortgage for a success built with patience, until yesterday’s crushing blow which today seems to have been facilitated by the fall of the Slovenian at the start of the stage. The leader of the UAE Team Emirates was thus unable to defend himself from the accelerations of the rival formation, thus suffering from afar the murderous progression of the Yellow Jersey and its men.

“I absolutely did not expect these differences even today – admits the 1996 class after climbing the podium again to wear a new yellow jersey – We are obviously very happy. Now to have more than seven minutes is really amazing. The Tour is clearly not over, I’m sure Tadej will try something in the next three stages, so we have to keep fighting, we’re not in Paris yet. »

Inevitably also circumstantial phrases, in contrast to an awareness that grows more and more inwardly, which is expressed in an embrace with his family and in a smile that he naturally finds difficult to hold back. “I can fall, I can have a bad day – he adds, aware that he can now almost touch me with my second triumph in the City of Light – Saturday remains a very difficult stage. We have to stay focused because it’s not over yet. Obviously I’m very happy and we’re in a great position. »

The 27-year-old Scandinavian also comments on the accident involving his rival, although he obviously does not know how decisive it was, as well as the moments that immediately followed: “I was behind him when he crashed. A rider went right and touched his wheel. He couldn’t help himself, he was really unlucky, we didn’t stop, but we waited for him without making a group until he came back. We stayed like that, on the defensive, so as not to take advantage of the situation, we wanted him to come back. I don’t know if this fall was the cause of today’s gap”.