Vingegaard took lead for his sprinter, similar to Evenepoel: "He didn't want all that effort to go to waste"

Jonas Vingegaard is in the midst of his preparation for the Tour de France. The Danish defending champion is participating in the Critérium du Dauphiné, just like last year, and his legs already seem to be in excellent form. On the first and second day, Vingegaard surprisingly took the lead twice, setting the pace for Christophe Laporte's sprint. He did so on his own initiative, as explained by Mathieu Heijboer - Head of Performance at Jumbo-Visma - in an interview with IDLProCycling.com.

It was a remarkable sight in the finals of the first and second stages. Both stages concluded with a hectic finale, during which a reduced peloton fought for the best positions in a sprint, after an already challenging race. On both occasions, it was none other than Vingegaard who took the final turn at the front of the Jumbo-Visma train. On the first day, this resulted in a stage win and the yellow jersey for Laporte, but on the second day, victory proved to be a bit too difficult for the Frenchman.

However, Vingegaard's role in both stages should not be underestimated. We have seen Remco Evenepoel, as a general classification rider, participating in the sprint trains of Soudal-Quick Step in various races, but usually, team leaders are thinking about themselves. "We controlled the race for two days because we had a lot of confidence that Christophe could win. You saw for yourself that it was very challenging to control the race, which meant we were actually one rider short. Jonas then decided that we wouldn't let all that work go to waste and that he wanted to contribute," said Heijboer.

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Vingegaard was in front in the first two stages of the Dauphiné

Vingegaard is perfectly on track for Tour de France

A sign of things to come for the Tour? Is Vingegaard already in top form? At Jumbo-Visma, they can only confirm that the Danish rider is on track to be at his best for the Tour de France. "Jonas is doing very well. Wednesday will be an important first test on the time trial bike, and apart from that, we have a lot of confidence in the week in the Dauphiné and in his performance in general."

These words align with what Vingegaard already communicated through his team's official channels, prior to the Dauphiné . "My form is improving, and I have prepared well for this race. Of course, I would like to win the overall classification here, but the Tour remains the primary goal." Vingegaard has already won three stages and the general classification in O Gran Camiño this year. He finished third in Paris-Nice, claimed three more stages and the overall classification in the Tour of the Basque Country, and is now putting his legs to the final test in the Dauphiné.

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg)