Tour de France: Jonas Vingegaard seals maiden title

PARIS, July 24

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Jonas Vingegaard claimed his maiden Tour de France title after Sunday’s 21st and final stage, completing a triumph he effectively sealed in the mountains after a vintage duel with Tadej Pogacar.

The 25-year-old, who five years ago was working as a fish packer in a factory in the morning before training in the afternoon, followed up on his surprise second place last year. He finished Sunday’s ride to the Champs Elysees safely in the bunch as Belgian Jasper Philipsen won the last stage in a sprint.

Vingegaard laid the foundations of his victory in the 10th stage, when he and his teammate Primoz Roglic attacked Pogacar relentlessly and made him crack in the climb up to the Col du Granon. Pogacar hit back time and time again but Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma team contained the feisty Slovenian, with the new champion sealing the victory when he claimed another win at Hautacam in the final mountain stage.

Overall, Vingegaard, who rocketed into the limelight last year, finished two minutes and 43 seconds ahead of Pogacar, according to provisional timings, and also won the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification.

Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team dominated the Tour, winning six of the 21 stages while protecting the Dane throughout, especially in a moment of panic when he suffered a mechanical issue in the cobbled stage in the opening week.

Vingegaard is the first Dane to win the Tour since Bjarne Riis, who kept his 1996 title despite later admitting to doping. — Reuters

Wiebes takes first stage

PARIS: Lorena Wiebes (in pic) of the Netherlands lived up to expectations as she won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France and claim the first yellow jersey of the resurrected race. For the first time in 33 years and after a long campaign, Tour de France organisers ASO have granted the top female professionals an official multi-stage race. Sunday’s ride was the first of eight stages covering a total of 1,033km. reuters