Vingegaard, gentleman in yellow Pogacar falls and he waits for him

Tour de France, domination and fair play of the Dane in yesterday’s stage The victory was mortgaged three days before the end of the competition

history

A game of hands. Those of Vingegaard and Pogacar that intertwine in the descent from the Col de Spandelles after the fall of the Slovenian, and those that the Dane puts on the Tour de France by taking the stage and mortgaging the final victory with an advantage that, three days from the end, is of 3’26 “. Difficult to fill.

It was a day full of twists and turns, characterized by the open fight between the two heroes of the French race, bitter rivals, but never enemies. Correct. You fall and I wait for you, even if you are my rival, and then we continue to fight with the pedals.

Here, it was Jonas Vingegaard’s gesture of fair play that ennobled his triumph in the eighteenth stage of the Grande Boucle. And on the finish line that hand on his heart and the kiss thrown to his wife painted the portrait of this “Lord in yellow”. Class and nobility of mind. This shy and solid Dane has come a long way, working as a young man at the Copenhagen fish market waking up at five in the morning. His fatigue was the common denominator of his life, his companion who will take him by the arm for the parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. And what he learned about cycling and climbing, he is a thin kid with a past as a footballer, who grew up in Denmark where there are no climbs that exalted him first in the Alps and then in the Pyrenees where he sank the blow. And what a defensive skill. Four times he repelled the attacks of Tadej Pogacar, the child king who took the Grande Boucle twice in a row in 2020 and 2021 and who now has to surrender the throne to this northern man who has stuck to him from day one like a magnet. A new rivalry that opens up interesting scenarios for the future.

The Slovenian, a former catch-all ace, fought until the end but for the first time he proved to be vulnerable. “I am proud of what I have done. The fall? I don’t want to think about it, I gave it my all. The Jumbo did a perfect job. Vingegaard was stronger than me. I lost the Tour in the best way ». Here it is, the recognition of the rival with whom he shares depth and talent. Mauro Gianetti, sporting director of UAE Emitares explains it well: «Among them there is real esteem. It was a beautiful day of cycling, Tadej tried, “all or nothing” he told us. He honored the Tour and Vingegaard was great. Well done”. The leader of the standings, on the other hand, limits himself to thanking his team, the Jumbo, perfect yesterday, and making a special dedication to Wout van Aert, the Belgian who has shot from the start of the race: “Like Superman”. And then, cautiously, he added: «There are two stages and the time trial, let’s wait and think it’s over».

The duel between the stars of two wheels, however, was not always so correct. Scrolling through the annals of the past, the history of the Giro d’Italia in 1955 and the gesture of Fiorenzo Magni, the anti-fairplay in search of the hat-trick in Rosa and willing to do anything, catches the eye. So when, two days after the conclusion, Gastone Nencini thought he had the Corsa in hand, with the Maglia Rosa worn five days earlier in the Ravenna time trial, here is the crime.

In the penultimate stage, the Trento-San Pellegrino Terme, Nencini punctures and is attacked by Magni and Fausto Coppi who share the final classification and the stage. A brutal episode that Vingegaaerd’s correctness canceled with a swipe of the sponge, also enhancing a magnificent Tour de France. –

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