Vingegaard: 'I've enjoyed riding a bit more this year than I did last year'
With the opening stage of the Tour de France right around the corner, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) said on Thursday that his altered approach to the race this year – which included three weeks of triumphant racing at the Giro d'Italia – were a good change of pace.
"I've had a very good year so far this year, and I've enjoyed riding a bit more this year than I did last year," Vingegaard said in a pre-Tour press conference.
The 29-year-old Dane won the Giro d'Italia by more than five minutes, taking five stage wins along the way, but he noted that his efforts in the first Grand Tour of the year were not so extreme as to leave him fatigued ahead of the second Grand Tour of the year.
"Without taking anything away from anyone from the Giro, that's true that I didn't have to completely kill myself, and I didn't come out of the Giro completely on my knees," said Vingegaard.
"That makes also means that you can recover faster upwards and start your training and get into a good rhythm quicker, because if you're on your knees after the Giro, you need two weeks, maybe even more, to recover. Then it's hard to start building towards the Tour, because then the Tour is already coming. So for me at least, I came out of the Giro in a good way, and pretty quickly I could start building towards the Tour."
