Visma | Lease a Bike may need to temper Vingegaard a little: "Pogacar isn't here, is he?"

As mentioned, the Dutch team did not waste any men chasing the early breakaway, but because Q36.5 and Lidl-Trek did, Vingegaard found himself in a winning position almost at no cost. “Jonas’ victory is impressive,” said Matteo Jorgenson in his initial reaction to Eurosport. “I was too far behind, but he really believed in himself, and he was very explosive. Even though he's not a sprinter type, he thought he could win. It was really cool to see him do it this way.”

In a conversation with IDLProCycling.com, Victor Campenaerts was also thrilled. Despite a punchy finale, the always chatty Belgian had confidence in Vingegaard. “When Tadej Pogacar made his incredible, explosive move in the first week of the Tour de France, Jonas was always there, way ahead of all the other competitors. Tadej isn't here, so I was pretty confident. That crash wasn't ideal, of course, but it all worked out in the end.”

Jorgenson said he was sitting next to Vingegaard in the grass during the crash, and the American knew immediately that he was okay. “I asked him if he was okay, and he immediately said he was fine. So even in that moment, we knew there were no problems. He was visibly okay in the end.” Grischa Niermann held his breath for a moment. “Of course, your heart skips a beat when six out of eight are lying on the ground. It wasn't pretty, but it's part of the game. Fortunately, everyone finished.”

According to the German, Vingegaard is brimming with ambition, but he will certainly keep the Dane in check if necessary. “There's only one thing that matters: that red jersey in the Vuelta. Jonas is in good shape, but there are still 19 stages to go. He feels good, and we knew this wasn't the day to win the Vuelta, but maybe a stage. We did that and that's great.”

“He's eager, of course, because he hadn't won a road stage this year. This final was quite difficult. It was bing-bing-bang, with an uphill sprint,” Niermann also knew. “We don't need to hold him back yet, but for ourselves, we have to keep in mind where the Vuelta can be won. That wasn't today, and it won't be tomorrow, but a stage win and the red jersey now is already very nice. We know that Jonas should basically be the best climber in this Vuelta, but that doesn't say anything about the rest.”

Bram van der Ploeg ( Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])