From Tour de Pologne to the podium in Paris.
Two years ago Jonas Vingegaard, the 2021 Tour de France runner-up won the stage in Kościelisko!
Warsaw, 2021 July 21st – The surprising podium of the young Danish talent on the Champs Elysees confirms the words of Czesław Lang when he says that on the route of the Tour de Pologne the careers of future stars of world cycling begin.
Jonas Vingegaard is not a new name for the Polish race, in fact he won the sixth stage of the 2019 edition that started from Zakopane and ended in Kościelisko, one of the two most challenging mountain stages of that year. After 160 km of racing, the peloton faced five laps that included a climb and the first-category GPM in Pitoniówka, followed by the ascent of Gubałówka and the descent into Kościelisko, where the riders would cross the finish line after a final short uphill section. At the end of an exciting race, the first to cross the white line was 22-year-old Jonas Vingegaard, the same man who took the second step of the Tour de France podium on Sunday.
The stage victory at the Tour de Pologne was Vingegaard’s first major victory in the professional ranks, but he had already demonstrated his skills in 2008 by beating his rivals in a stage of the most prestigious race for young riders, the Tour de l’Avenir. The arrival of Kościelisko, however, was the moment that officially sanctioned his talent as a World Tour rider, able to fight and win with the top contenders. Behind him, in fact, were ranked – second and third respectively – the Russian Pavel Sivakov (Ineos-Grenadiers) and the Australian Jai Hindley (Team DSM). The fourth place went to the excellent Colombian mountain biker Sergio Hiquita (EF Education-Nippo).
The battle for the final podium was fought entirely among under-23-year-old riders with a wonderful career ahead of them. Maybe we’ll see them again at the Tour de Pologne.