Vingegaard finishes Parisian duties with smile: 'Maybe I should buy a gravel bike'

If one man was grossly wild in the mixed zone Wednesday at the presentation of the 2024 Tour de France route, it was Jonas Vingegaard. As a two-time winner, the Jumbo-Visma Dane was by far the most requested person for some texts, which came seemingly easily to him.

After two years at the center of attention in the greatest cycling race on earth, half an hour or so after the presentation of the Tour course could also be off for Vingegaard, who was satisfied with what he had just seen at the Palais des Congres. 'To be honest, I think it's a very nice course. It's a tough Tour de France, with especially a very tough third week. In it there are a lot of high climbs. And the higher we go, the better it is for me.'

Team boss Richard Plugge fought only the ninth stage around Troyes, in which the peloton will face 32 kilometers of gravel roads. I'm not in favor of that, because it hugely introduces the luck factor. Why do you have to go looking for gravel again?" the Jumbo-Visma CEO openly wondered. Instead, Vingegaard shrugged it off, even though he presumably wasn't very happy about it. 'Maybe I should go buy a gravel bike then,' laughed the friendly Dane.

Vingegaard notes that from the start of Tour de France, everyone should start to be in shape

Otherwise, Vingegaard could not help but be pleased. 'You have to be good from the start. In the fourth stage there are already very tough climbs waiting,' said the defending champion, who just last year hit his stride in the time trial. There are now more than sixty kilometers of that as well. 'Hopefully I can reach that level of last year again, then it is something that suits me. But with Primoz Roglic, Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel it will be a tough stage anyway!

Vingegaard is the only Jumbo-Visma rider already definitely on it for the 2024 Tour de France. The rest of the ambitions for 2024 will be announced by his team, where Primoz Roglic is leaving and Wout van Aert is likely to focus on the Giro, on Dec. 22.