Overwhelming. overwhelming. Awesome. Jonas Vingegaard is more like Tadej Pogacar than he himself thinks, more than everyone thinks. The Dane from the Jumbo acted on the ascent to Monte Tegra exactly as his great rival would have done on the first finish at the top of O Gran Camiño. The Tour champion left the calculator parked and scored the victory in the first stage that he was running in this 2023, not counting the one neutralized by snow this Thursday.
His start to the campaign has nothing to envy to that of the Slovenian. Vingegaard had not won for more than 140 days. He did it in October in Croatia. And in Galicia he showed that he also has a lot of gas when the road gets steep. They don't have to be the Granon or Hautacam. The Dane can make the difference in a climb that is three kilometers long and 320 meters high.
It was a violent attack after his teammate Staune-Mittet set a powerful pace on the first ramps of the pass. As the quick-tongued 21-year-old Norwegian pulled away, Vingegaard sped up. There were 2.2 km to go and no one could even try to take the wheel from him.
He left to the despair of Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Rúben Guerreiro (Movistar) or Langellotti (Burgos-BH). The winner of the 2022 Tour is in another dimension and in good shape, as seen. He immediately took a 20-second lead that was impossible to reduce.
Even in the section of stones he was strong, overcoming the trap as if nothing, almost without getting up from the saddle to dress as leader. Vingegaard does not want to be less. Neither less spectacular nor less voracious than Pogacar. And he will surely demonstrate it again in the two remaining stages in Galicia. At this rate, the others will have the crumbs.
