Vingegaard amazed at Visma | Lease a Bike's Tour de France team time trial: 'I didn't have to do much'

Jonas Vingegaard watched his teammates’ performance in the Tour de France team time trial with great amazement. The Dane finished the race in Barcelona, claiming the first yellow jersey, but according to Vingegaard, he didn’t actually make a very big contribution to that.

Vingegaard was the culmination of a fantastic attack—if we can borrow from World Cup terminology. The 29-year-old Dane was able to sit out his turns and was put in an excellent position for the decisive phase of the time trial by a remarkably strong Visma | Lease a Bike team.

Davide Piganzoli was the last rider, just as he was in the Giro d'Italia, before Vingegaard took charge of the final climb himself. Visma | Lease a Bike ultimately finished 7 seconds faster than Netcompany INEOS’s fastest time. Tadej Pogacar and UAE Emirates-XRG were 11 seconds behind.

"It couldn't have started any better—the perfect start," Vingegaard beamed during the post-race flash interview. "Of course, it's still a long Tour de France, but my teammates did a great job today. They were so strong; I actually didn't have to do much."

Vingegaard wasn't joking when he said that, because he was able to stay at the back of the pack for most of the time trial, saving his energy for the final 700-meter uphill sprint. "They practically carried me all the way to the finish."

"Winning the team time trial with the team and wearing the yellow jersey again after a few tough years—that’s wonderful for me to experience once more. The yellow jersey is special—I’m going to enjoy it,” Vingegaard added, referring to his long road back after a crash in the Basque Country in 2024.

Although Vingegaard finished second twice—in the 2024 and 2025 Tours—he doesn’t seem to have returned to his best form until this year. “I’m here to ride for the best possible general classification, and of course I’m going for the win, but there’s still a long way to go. We have a small lead.”

"So it was the perfect start," Vingegaard said later. "I couldn't have dreamed of a better start. Everything went according to plan. We had a strategy, and it paid off," he continued, full of praise.

"It's the biggest race in the world, so that means a lot to us. It's a fantastic victory, especially because I had seven teammates who sacrificed themselves for me. Thanks to them, I'm wearing the yellow jersey and we won the stage—we have to enjoy that."