26 years later, Denmark is excited about the possibility of seeing a second Dane at the top of the Tour podium on Sunday, a victory that would allow them to have a big party without having to justify themselves, as so many Danes have had to do. years with Riis, especially after that summer of 2007, when all the cyclists who had been part of the Telekom team in the 1990s were publicly admitting that they had been doped. Masseur Jef D’Hont was the first to break in silence. And little by little Jan Ullrich, Erik Zabel, Rolf Aldag, Brian Holm and finally Bjarne Riis himself admitted to having been doped for years. The organizers of the Tour decided to delete his name from the list of winners, but the International Cycling Union, surprisingly, did not officially withdraw the title. And 26 years later he is still the only Danish test champion. Now it’s up to Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) to rewrite history.
Denmark, where the highest point is just 560 meters (excluding the peaks of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, of course), is a country of cyclists and cyclists. But they had never had such a good generation of professional cyclists as now, just the year the Tour started and did the first three stages precisely on Danish territory. And so far three Danish runners have already won stages: Vingegaard himself, Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education First) and the 2019 world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo). “The support of all the Danes who have traveled to France to cheer is incredible. It took a long time to get here, so I don’t have enough finishing second like last year. I want to win, for myself and for Denmark, ”says Vingegaard, 25, who five years ago worked in a fish cleaning factory while trying to become a professional cyclist.
Houle s’imposa a Foix
This Tuesday Vingegaard has again responded calmly to all the attacks of the reigning champion, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE), especially during the ascent to the Lers pass, the penultimate port of the first of the three stages of the Pyrenees. Tomorrow Pogacar will be able to attack again in the 130 km between Saint-Gaudens and Peyragudes, waiting for Hautacam – where Riis flew in 1996 – on Thursday. Today the stage was won by the Canadian Hugo Houle after culminating a long getaway with arrival in Foix. Houle, 31, is the second Canadian to win a stage of the test. The first was its current sporting director, Steve Bauer, in 1988.
