The Danish Jonas Vingegaard He was satisfied with his first week of the Tour de France, he considered that he had reached a “high level of form” after suffering a severe fall in April at the Tour of the Basque Country and He rejects criticism for not being brave enough to travel on unpaved roads.
“I don’t think I lacked guts. What happened is we ran so as not to waste time. To those who say we lacked guts, I say we ran smart,” said the Visma runner in his hotel in Orleans where he spent the first day of rest.
Vingegaard was heavily criticized by Slovenian general manager Tadej Pogacarand Belgian Remco Evenepoel, second, after he refused to work with them to distance the other favourites.
“If I did it, when there were 80 kilometers left, and they took me out in another sector without asphalt.as it happened, I will lose the Tour this Sunday,” said the Dane, who recalled that he had a puncture with 100 kilometers to go and was on a bike that wasn’t his.
“We were in a defensive strategy. People may not understand, but this is our strategy. This is their problem,” he commented.
While Pogacar accused him of only watching his tire and not paying attention to the other potential favorites, Vingegaard said he was keeping an eye on “everyone in the top-10.” “For me it is good that more riders are in contention for the general classification, they can make the race tougher,” he highlighted.
The Dane, winner of the last two editions, is now third, 1.15 behind Pogacarwhich clears Evenepoel by 33 seconds, but ensures that the Tour will go “as planned” in its initial plan, which involves recovering its best form as the race progresses, as its previous preparation was cut short by a crash in Basque Country.
“I feel good, I feel like I’m progressing every day with the race, every stage I feel better. And I think I’m already at a high level. I never thought about it because of the preparation I’ve had, ” he commented.
Vingegaard, however, considered that This is “slightly below” the level it was at this point in last year’s Tour.
“But I think it’s positive for me that in the first nine stages I haven’t had any difficult mountain days,” he commented.
The defending champion is expected to be optimistic about the two remaining weeks of competitionalthough he admits to not knowing how his body will react in the third week.
“I know I’m at a very high level and I hope I can keep it up until the end. Normally I get to the third week well, but autumn (in the Basque Country) can change things and I don’t know how my body will react,” he said.
“Even my opponents don’t know, I’m a mystery runner. Everything is possible until the last dayswe will see what happens in each stage that we will run with the aim of winning the Tour,” he said.
In addition, he says he feels less pressure than in the past because he came with fewer expectations.
“It’s true that the crash changed everything. I’m happy to stay alive and to be able to compete in this race. I still have ambition, but in the end it matters little if you win or not, life goes on. In a way, I don’t feel pressure, although I haven’t had many problems with pressure,” he commented.
Source: La Verdad
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