Vingegaard looks back on 'most memorable podium ceremony ever' at Vuelta: 'A disgrace for cycling'

Jonas Vingegaard finished second in the Tour de France this year, once again behind an untouchable Tadej Pogacar. The Dane missed out on his main objective, but later made amends by winning the Vuelta a España. It was a turbulent race, heavily marked by pro-Palestinian protests — and Vingegaard has now looked back on those events.

The presence of Israel - Premier Tech was not well received in Spain. As a result, stage 11 to Bilbao was neutralized, while stage 16 also descended into chaos. The situation came to a head on the ceremonial final stage, which was stopped after just an hour and a half. There was no traditional victory lap for Vingegaard, despite having secured overall victory in the Vuelta. The podium ceremony was eventually held in a car park.

“In the end, I think you can say it was a historic celebration as well,” Vingegaard told TuttoBiciWeb. “But of course it was also a disgrace for cycling what happened. I also remember that there were quite a few question marks over everyone’s heads when we got back to the hotel, because it wasn’t entirely clear what was going to happen.” The solution eventually came from an unexpected source: the mother of Tom Pidcock.

It made for a very unusual finale in Spain. “I was sitting at the back of the team bus for a while, and then the others arrived and we had a beer together,” Vingegaard recalls. “Suddenly someone came onto the bus and said: ‘Oh, we’re organizing a party here in the car park. We’re trying to get everyone together.’ And then, yes, everyone eventually arrived, and for me personally it was one of the most memorable podium ceremonies I’ve ever experienced.”

In hindsight, the Dane can now look back fondly on the celebration, where riders stood smiling broadly on the improvised podium. “First of all, I’m very happy that there was a celebration, and also very satisfied with how everything eventually turned out,” he says. "Of course, I would have preferred not to get sick, but I did win three stages and the Vuelta, which is also a very important race, and I’m super happy to add that to my palmarès.”

Another memorable finale came in Paris, where Wout van Aert won the final stage. “It was really amazing to see Wout win again in the Tour,” Vingegaard explains. “Both he and I suffered heavy crashes at the same time, and I think we both had a tough period, but it was fantastic to see him win on the Champs-Élysées, and I was incredibly happy for him.”

Vingegaard owes a great deal to his Belgian team-mate. The tears they shared after the final time trial of the 2022 Tour said it all: they genuinely wish each other success. Van Aert’s performance also proved motivating. “It’s always great to see Wout win, and he really deserved that victory because he fought so hard for it,” Vingegaard concludes. "His success gave me the motivation to go on and win the Vuelta.”