Vingegaard attacked in opening stage Dauphiné when no one expected it: "That's annoying now with Tadej"

At the top of the Côte du Buffon, the last climb of the day, Vingegaard made a scorching breakaway. Pogacar followed; Van der Poel, Evenepoel, and Santiago Buitrago later joined. "I had a good day, to be honest," Vingegaard said in the flash interview. "So I'm happy with how things went. I'm glad I was able to make a difference. I think it's the first time I've finished second in a bunch sprint," the climber smiled.

The peloton chased with all their strength, but the strong group of five managed to stay out of the hands of the charging sprinters. In the sprint, Vingegaard had to concede to Pogacar, but he did manage to get past Van der Poel and Evenepoel. "I'm happy, but Tadej was just faster. Hats off to him." Nevertheless, the Dane calls it a successful return to the peloton after his crash in Paris-Nice in March.

Because there were a lot of fast riders in the group, the leader of Visma | Lease a Bike tried to wait and see how things would play out. "I was the one who did the least work because I thought I would lose the sprint, which is annoying with Tadej. I'm now 4 seconds behind, which isn't ideal. I didn't think I would gain any seconds, so 6 seconds isn't bad," concluded the Dane.

Later on Sunday, Vingegaard reflected on a very exciting first day in the Dauphiné on the team website of Visma | Lease a Bike. "I’m happy with how I felt today. It was great to be up front right away and to make an impact. I didn’t have much confidence in my sprint against that group, but a second place is definitely something to be pleased with. I also picked up six bonus seconds, so it’s a successful start."