the danish Jonas Vingegaard, who this Wednesday left the Tour de France on the verge of being sentenced, had to come out of the doping suspicions that weighed on him after two consecutive exhibitions that he signed in the gala round.
“It is difficult for me to say more, I understand that it is difficult for people to trust cycling because of the past that they have, but now everyone is doing it differently than 10 years ago. I am not taking whatever and I won’t take any of that. I won’t give my daughter up,” said the Danish runner.
In the Tour de France caravan, the time trial he did on Tuesday was very surprising, where he significantly improved the best time the organizers had seen.
Without anyone daring to say it out loud, the Dane’s performance has revived suspicions in a sport that is not yet done with removing the doping slab.
The director of the Tour, Christian Prudhomme, considered the doubt legitimate, but recalled that cycling is subject to independent controls and the yellow jersey does not go a day without being scrutinized.
In fact, after the time trial, all the riders from his team and those from Tadej Pogacar’s UAE underwent blood tests before the start of stage 17.
Vingegaard responded violently to the suspicions, but maintained his monotonous speech.
When they reminded him that his speed was equal to cycling’s darkest years, the Dane replied that it was due to improvements in equipment and the preparation of riders.
His exploits have been somewhat overshadowed by that suspicion, but Vingagaard is heading into his second consecutive Tour after once again dethroning one of the best cyclists of the moment, Pogacar.
Although the Danish does not want to end the Tour, which he faces with a 7.35 advantage with three stages to go before the triumphant trip to the Champs-Élysées, the optimism is evident on his face.
Even in that he did not forget his eternal rival, who still gives him options to live again, after the fall he suffered at the Col de la Loze.
“I’m relieved, having more than 7 minutes ahead is formidable. But we’re not in Paris yet, there are dangerous stages left, I have to keep doing my best,” said the Jumbo cyclist.
“Pogacar never gives up, he is going to try something, I am convinced. I have to be prepared. There are still very dangerous stages ahead,” said the Dane, who is on his way to achieving his second consecutive Tour.
“I fought with him throughout the Tour. We had a plan and it worked well. It’s not good for Tadje to lose like this, but we look at our career, I’m happy to have the yellow jersey for one more day . ,” he said.
vingegaard he took the opportunity to throw a dart at his rival, to which he said that “he may make efforts that make him weak, sometimes energy is spent in useless efforts”.
All smiles on the Dane, who only needs to overcome a revalidation, the penultimate stage, an appointment in the high mountains of the Vosges, which he faces with all the cards in his hand to win, at 26 years old, his second Tour.
The Dane doesn’t let go of his team’s official speech, a series of closed concepts that he repeats over and over.
“We have been working on tactics for a long time, everything is planned in December. After yesterday’s result, we kept to the planned plan. We believe in our strategy and seek to follow it,” he says.
“We always believe in ourselves, we cannot influence what Pogacar does, we can only trust our plan,” he said.
A perfect plan, where only the shadow of suspicion is drawn out by his team.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
