The 2022 Tour de France: Vingegaard, Cort Nielsen, Pedersen… the Tour was a Danish delight

Three weeks after the Grand Départ in Copenhagen (Denmark), Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) won the 2022 Tour de France. Several of his countrymen also enjoyed success on the three-week long UCI WorldTour event.

The 109th edition of the Tour de France visited new lands and found a new prince. Three and a half weeks after an unprecedented Grand Départ from the Kongeriget (Kingdom) of Denmark, Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard won his first Grand Tour and gave his cycling-loving countrymen a new champion to unite behind.

“Vingegaard! Vingegaard!” The crowds gathered in Copenhagen for the team presentations and celebrated the 25-year-old climber, runner up in both the general and Young Rider classification in the 2021 Tour, as he took off for his quest. Their eyes were filled with emotion and Vingegaard’s leader Primož Roglič – at least on paper – delighted the Danish fans by declaring that he would support Vingegaard in the quest for the yellow jersey…

Little did they know how prophetic this moment would be, three and a half weeks before another intense celebration on the Champs-Elysées. The little climber from North Jutland has grown into becoming the winner of the biggest cycling stage race in the world.

The Cort Nielsen show

Although he stands as the big winner at the end of the 3,350 km race from Copenhagen to Paris, Vingegaard was far from the only Danish hero on this 2022 Tour de France. Nor was he the first to shine on the road.

Ten riders from the small Scandinavian country lined up at the start, dreaming of bringing home glory in a major world event. Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education-EasyPost) quickly became the star during these first days in Denmark.

Following the opening time trial, dominated by Belgium’s Yves Lampaert, stage 2 started in Roskilde, which was hosting its big music festival at the same time. Magnus Cort Nielsen immediately attacked and led the breakaway and collected climbing points, to the delight of the crowds.

Fist in the air, he celebrated his early exploits on top of a modest category 4 climb. Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl Team) eventually won the stage in Nyborg, on Mads Pedersen’s training roads, but Cort Nielsen was delighted with his first polka-dot jersey, just like the fans who celebrated him along the Danish roads.

Cort Nielsen was also the main animator of stage 3, with a solo breakaway to bid the Danish fans farewell before taking off for northern France.

Vingegaard flies over the highest mountains

As the race headed to France, the Danish champions kept advancing. In the Alps, Cort Nielsen showed that he could master peaks much higher than the Danish hills, with a winning breakaway to Megève.

The next day, the race reached its highest peaks via the col du Galibier (2,630 m), finishing at col du Granon (2,404 m), which was the second highest altitude finish in Tour de France’s history (only topped by Galibier itself). At this impressive altitude, Vingegaard showed his strength as he rode in front of his Jumbo-Visma team and took the yellow jersey from the two-time defending Slovenian champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).

The Dutch team suffered a major blow when Primož Roglič crashed on the cobbles of stage 5, a day that could have also ended Vingegaard’s chances in the general classification. But the Dutch team still relied on a strong line-up, especially with Belgium’s Wout van Aert, winner of three stages and wearer of the green jersey for three weeks (except for when he held the yellow jersey for three days at the beginning of the race) and a great team helper on all kinds of terrain.

Vingegaard seals the Danish deal

A week after Vingegaard’s power demonstration on the slopes of col du Granon, Van Aert once again turned into a key helper in order to crack Pogačar on the slopes of Hautacam. At the summit, Vingegaard took another stage win and practically sealed his overall victory after having resisted the many attacks from his Slovenian rival.

Meanwhile, another Dane, Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), had joined in the celebrations with a stage win of his own, after a successful breakaway to Saint-Étienne (stage 13).

With four stage wins, awards and jerseys of all kinds, Vingegaard’s coronation on the Champs-Élysées clearly showed that the strong Danish presence was not only a thing of the Grand Départ in Copenhagen – but of the whole 2022 Tour de France.