Jonas Vingegaard crowned Tour de France winner after Champs-Elysees finale

Runner up Tadej Pogacar confident the UAE Team Emirates will return stronger next year

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 21 - Paris La Defense Arena to Champs-Elysees - France - July 24, 2022 Jumbo - Visma's Jonas Vingegaard celebrates on the podium wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey after winning the Tour de France REUTERS / Christian Hartmann

Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard celebrates on the podium after winning the 2022 Tour de France, on Sunday, July 24. Reuters

UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar on the podium wearing the best young rider's white jersey. AFP

UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar on the podium wearing the best young rider's white jersey. The Slovenian finished second behind Jonas Vingegaard in the overall standings. AFP

Jumbo-Visma rider Jonas Vingegaard celebrates after winning the 2022 Tour de France. AFP

Jumbo-Visma rider Jonas Vingegaard celebrates in Paris after winning the 2022 Tour de France. AFP

Jumbo Visma riders Tiesj Benootthe, Jonas Vingegaard, Wout Van Aert and Christophe Laporte celebrate as they cross the finish line. EPA

Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard crosses the finish alongside his Jumba-Visma teammates. AP

Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard passing the Arc de Triomphe during Stage 21 of the 2022 Tour de France. Reuters

The peloton rides on the Champs Elysees. AFP

Jasper Philipsen celebrates after winning Stage 21. Reuters

Alpecin Deceuninck rider Jasper Philipsen celebrates afterr winning Stage 21.

The peloton during Stage 21. AFP

Riders passing the Louvre in Paris. Reuters

The peloton pass the Louvre in Paris. Reuters

Jonas Vingegaard passing the Louvre with Jumbo-Visma teammates. Reuters

Wout Van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard with Jumbo-Visma teammates. AFP

Jonas Vingegaard and the peloton pass the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. AFP

Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard rides past the Louvre. AFP

Alphajets of the Patrouille de France fly over the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees as the riders pass underneath. AP

The peloton rides during Stage 21. AP

Jumbo-Visma's French rider Christophe Laporte with teammate Jonas Vingegaard. AFP

Left to right: Jumbo-Visma's Tiesj Benoot holding the bib number of absent teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck, Wout Van Aert, Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss holding the number of Primoz Roglic, and Christophe Laporte holding the number of Steven Kruijswijk. AFP

Tadej Pogacar, in white, Jonas Vingegaard, in yellow, and Wout Van Aert, in green, line-up in front of the peloton prior to the start of Stage 21. AP

UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at the start of Stage 21. EPA

Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey and who also has the best climber's dotted jersey, Wout van Aert, wearing the best sprtinters green jersey, and Tadej Pogacar, wearing the best young rider's white jersey. AP

Tadej Pogacar said he could take many positives from his three stage victories and finishing second behind Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard in the 2022 Tour de France.

The UAE Team Emirates star and winner of the Tour in 2020 and 2021 was outshone by Vingegaard, who was outstanding throughout the 21 stages of the gruelling race.

“I can be really happy with this Tour de France,” Pogacar said before the start of the final stage won by Belgian Jasper Philipsen at Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday.

“For sure we wanted to win, but also the second place and three stage wins is something to be proud of. I am looking for new challenges.

“Stage wins are always incredible in the Tour. It's something I cannot describe. For me, that's why it's so beautiful.”

Pogacar was also unlucky as he lost four teammates during the Tour. Vehard Stake Laengen and George Bennett dropped out after testing Covid-19 positive, while Marc Soler was forced to pull out after falling ill and then Rafal Majka due to an injury.

However, nothing should be taken away from Vingegaard and his team Jumbo-Visma’s incredible success.

They scored six stage victories and Vingegaard took both the yellow and green jerseys as the overall winner and the king of the mountains. Van Aert was also awarded the red dossard as the race’s most combative rider.

Pogacar, 23, took the white jersey for the young rider category to add to his three stage victories.

After completing the penultimate time trial stage on Saturday in which Pogacar finished third, the Slovenian acknowledged his UAE Team Emirates squad had made a lot of mistakes during the race.

“For sure we can take a lot of things from this Tour – a lot of mistakes that we made, and a lot of good things,” he explained.

“I think we have a good opportunity for next year because I know that we can improve and I'm looking forward to new challenges. We can try to get better at a lot of things. I think we can do it.”

Pogacar admitted that he had been "too motivated" to follow the moves made by Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic on the Galibier, and that he paid for his efforts later in the day.

“The mistake I have made was the stage to the Col du Granon,” he said. “I was too motivated to follow everyone, and I think in the end I paid really hard. That's one mistake I made but for sure, there's a bit more.

“We had a lot of bad luck with Covid-19 before and in the middle of the Tour. We ended the race with four riders – only half the team. A lot of factors we can talk about all day, but it's something we have to analyse after the Tour.”

Pogacar paid tribute to Vingegaard and the Jumbo-Visma team on their success in the Tour.

“This Tour there were almost no weaknesses in their team,” he added. “They lost two riders, but in the end it didn't seem like they had any less, maybe because we had four. They rode really perfectly in this Tour and because they rode perfectly, they got to win.”

Vingegaard thanked his team after safely crossing the finish line with his teammates in Paris.

“It's just incredible,” the 109th winner of the Tour de France said. “I have finally won the Tour. Nothing can go wrong any more. I sat with my daughter with me. It is just incredible.

“It is the biggest cycling race of the year, the biggest one you can win and now I have done it. Nobody can take this away from me."

Philipsen said it was his “childhood dream” to win the final stage of the Tour.

“It will take a while to realise,” he said. “I'm super and happy and proud that I could win on the beautiful Champs-Elysees. It is the dream of any sprinter.”