In the twenty-first and final stage of the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard was crowned the new champion, leaving behind Tadej Pogacar, who had won the 2020 and 2021 editions. Vingegaard had a 7-minute, 29-second lead over Pogacar at the end of the race.
In this final stage, the Belgian Jordi Meeus (Bora) took the victory, beating his compatriot Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin). However, the undisputed protagonist was Vingegaard, who seems to be in his prime and has no plans to relinquish the title.
The race was even until the sixteenth stage, where Vingegaard led Pogacar by only ten seconds. However, the Dane excelled in the 22.4km alpine time trial, increasing his lead to 1:48 over the Slovenian.
Although Pogacar showed great performance in the mountains, winning a stage in the Pyrenees and showing strength at the Puy de Dome, he was dealt a blow by Vingegaard during the seventeenth stage up the Col de la Loze. The Slovenian suffered significant physical exhaustion that prevented him from staying in the fight for the title.
Although Pogacar managed to win the last mountain stage in the Vosges, Vingegaard had already ensured his victory in the Tour, which raised some suspicions of doping that he flatly denied.
The legendary Eddy Merckx, considered one of the greatest cyclists of all time, praised Vingegaard’s performance in the alpine stages, noting his strength compared to Pogacar.
Looking ahead to the next Tour de France, a new duel is expected between Vingegaard and Pogacar, with the possible presence of Egan Bernal, who is recovering from an accident that occurred in January 2022, and the young Spanish cyclist Carlos RodrÃguez, who surprised everyone with his outstanding performance in his debut in the Grande Boucle.