Jonas Vingegaard wraps up Criterium de Dauphine title as Tour de France reunion with Tadej Pogacar looms

Published 11/06/2023 at 15:34 GMT

Jonas Vingegaard tuned up for his Tour de France defence with a commanding win at the Criterium de Dauphine. The Dane says he has “a little bit of work to do – but not a lot” ahead of the Tour, where he will resume his rivalry with Tadej Pogacar. Pogacar is on the comeback trail after fracturing his wrist at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The Tour kicks off in Bilbao on July 1.

Highlights: Ciccone takes final stage as Vingegaard wins Dauphine overall title

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) wrapped up the overall title at the Criterium de Dauphine after another virtuoso climbing display on the final stage.

The Dane shrugged off attacks from Britain’s Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) on Stage 8 before pulling away from his closest GC challenger on the sharp final climb to the Bastille Fortress.

Lone breakaway survivor Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) held off Vingegaard on the double-digit gradients to take the stage victory by 22 seconds.

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Vingegaard topped the general classification by 2’23” from Yates, with Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen) third at 2’56”.

"It’s very big for me to win this race. It's one of biggest races in the world, so I'm very happy to win," said Vingegaard.

His form will fuel excitement ahead of his showdown with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at the Tour de France in July.

Vingegaard ended the Slovenian’s two-year grip on the yellow jersey with a scintillating victory last year, but he was second best in their most recent duel at Paris-Nice in March.

On the convincing nature of his win at the Dauphine, Vingegaard continued: "In some kind of way I'm surprised. I knew I was in good shape.

"Now I relax for a few days then start preparing the last bit for the Tour de France. I still have a little bit of work to do but not a lot."

The Tour begins in Bilbao, Spain on July 1.

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