Tour de France 2023
The Dane, who becomes champion for the second time, lacks the warmth and humanity to capture the imagination of the French people
Jonas Vingegaard’s second Tour de France victory was a triumph of efficiency, teamwork, preparation and consistency, but unfortunately he lacked the qualities modern cycling needs most: warmth, charm and humanity.
One indication of how friendly France have become with Jumbo-Visma’s Vingegaard is that the first notable mention of his second yellow jersey came on page 10 of Sunday’s L’Equipe.
Unfortunately, the Dane, who was too nervous to even attack as a football student, leaves the host country cold. He’s a superhero at home, but in France he remains an enigma who has already been said to return next year.
Lotte Kopecky wins the first stage of the Tour de France Femmes after a tough climb
“Two years ago I had my first tour, the first year I started delivering results,” he says. “Not that I wasn’t a good cyclist before, but I just couldn’t handle the pressure.”
“But I learned to deal with it and I started winning and was on the podium,” he says. “You gain more and more self-confidence, in yourself, in the media.”
During this year’s race, there was much talk of the “Netflix Effect,” in front of the huge, partying, younger crowd, but it’s also clear that Jumbo-Visma suffers from “Sky Syndrome,” best characterized by rising unpopularity, aloof leadership, and a team manager who comes across as a stuffed shirt.
The events of the weekend could not have made this polarization clearer.
After slamming Thibaut Pinot’s Groupama FDJ team for drinking “big beers” and calling alcohol “poison” on the second rest day of the tour, Jumbo Visma manager Richard Plugge found his team’s vehicles in the Vosges mountains being booed and mobbed by Pinot-loving French fans.
Pinot’s breakaway exploits on Saturday’s stage came to nothing, although the French climber did enough to roar his team management and most local fans into roaring wrecks. Pinot’s achievements on the Tour, while small, were always memorable, even existential. He will leave a gaping void in French cycling.
“Thibaut is a unique driver,” says his team boss Marc Madiot. “His results are a few lines on a piece of paper. But every line has a meaning, a story. Why are there so many emotions today? Quite simply because he is an authentic driver. He lays himself bare, he shows everyone what he stands for.”
The foundation of Vingegaard’s second Tour win was a staunch resistance to Pogacar’s pyrotechnics, which fizzled out once the peloton arrived in the Alps. The third week of the tour usually separates the contenders from the contenders, and this year was no different. With a lack of training and stamina, the Alps were cruel to Pogacar, yet he persevered to finish second overall.
Thibaut Pinot drove his last tour. Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images
“I tried to get through the worst moments and always hoped for a better moment,” he says. “It worked in the end.”
Pogacar gained as many fans with the loss as Vingegaard with the win.
The directness of the Slovene formed the counterpoint to the monosyllabic character of the Dane. Pogacar’s farewell as a challenger – “I’m gone, I’m dead” – was radioed into his team car on the Col de la Loze, followed by a succinct “I’m fucked” when a French interviewer asked him how he was feeling.
However, his team UAE Emirates, who finished third overall in Paris with Adam Yates, was the only lineup that really threatened Vingegaard’s hegemony.
Ineos Grenadiers, having started the Tour with a lack of clarity about the lead, grew none the wiser by the end of the race. Spain’s Carlos Rodríguez, in fifth place, put in some impressive performances, but after a promising first two weeks, Tom Pidcock, who had once tipped for a top-five finish, slipped to 13th overall.
2019 champion Egan Bernal rode his first Tour since a career-threatening accident 18 months ago and showed real courage by finishing 36th overall, a win in itself. “Life changes,” says Bernal. “It’s hard to accept that I’ve gone from Tour de France champion to just another rider in the peloton.”
Meanwhile, Ineos team boss Dave Brailsford has denied the British team is close to signing Belgian Remco Evenepoel, despite the Vuelta a España champion being one of the few drivers capable of rivaling Pogacar and Vingegaard.
But after nearly four decades, the Tour desperately needs a French champion to end years of foreign rule. Pinot, who was so close to success on the 2019 tour, has now left the stage, but Madiot still has plenty of fire in his stomach.
“You can’t trick the fans,” he says. “The people on the side of the road who wait for hours to watch the drivers go by came here to see it. They come to see people giving everything they’ve got. You feel the suffering, but also the character and the charm.”
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