Jonas pops corks to toast Tour triumph
JASPER PHILIPSEN won the final stage of the Tour de France in Paris as Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line to confirm his first title. Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Philipsen took his second stage success of this Tour as he came around Dylan Groenewegen in the final few metres to win, with Alexander Kristoff third. Behind the sprinters, Vingegaard crossed the line arm-in-arm with his Jumbo-Visma team-mates to seal his victory. Vingegaard finished three minutes 34 seconds clear of Tadej Pogacar in the overall standings with 2018 winner Geraint Thomas completing the podium.
‘It’s just incredible,’ said the Dane, 25. ‘Now I’ve finally won the Tour. Now nothing can go wrong any more and
I’m sitting here with my daughter and it’s just incredible. It’s the biggest cycling race of the year, the biggest one you can win and now I’ve done it and nobody can take this away from me.’ The battle for yellow had effectively been sealed in Saturday’s time trial. As the riders approached Versailles, Jumbo-Visma riders clinked champagne glasses in honour of Vingegaard’s victory in the general classification and the king of the mountains competition — as well as team-mate Wout van Aert’s green jersey in the points classification.
While Vingegaard and Pogacar traded blows throughout the Alps and Pyrenees in the fight for yellow, 36-year-old Thomas rode a controlled race that has brought him a third career podium finish in the Tour de France.
‘I’m still making the most of it,’ said the Welshman. ‘As I have said now many times, I’m much closer to the end of my career than the start, so I really make the most of it, soak it all in and enjoy days like this.’