Jonas Vingegaard celebrated victory at Tirreno-Adriatico and lifted the winner’s trident trophy an hour or so after teammate Matteo Jorgenson won Paris-Nice, the two victories very much entwined in their origins, their execution and the indications they give for this year’s Tour de France.
Vingegaard can be reassured that he and Visma-Lease a Bike are on track for another successful season in 2024.
“It’s a great day for the team with Matteo winning Paris-Nice and me winning here. It couldn’t be any better for us,” Vingegaard said with pride wearing the Tirreno-Adriatico blue winner’s jersey.
It’s the first time that the same team has won both March stage races and indicates the current dominance of Visma-Lease a Bike.
Vingegaard won the two mountain stages to beat Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) by 1:24, while Jorgenson beat Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) by 30 seconds after they broke away together on the final stage to crack Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates). Sprinter Olav Kooij also won two stages in France and Visma-Lease a Bike has claimed 15 victories in 2024.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s overall victories at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico were built on the foundation of a winter spent training together and a recent altitude camp on Mount Teide, where Vingegaard and Jorgenson shared a room for three weeks.
The Dutch team has the depth in their roster to target Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico at the same moment, before uniting them to create the best overall squad for the Tour de France. Incredibly, Wout Van Aert, Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot, Sepp Kuss, and Jan Tratnink did not race this week as they prepared for the Classics and the Volta a Catalunya.
“We laid the base for this success in the winter and we both came down from an altitude to race,” Vingegaard said of Jorgenson.
“I saw how hard Matteo worked there and I was sure that he had a super high level and that he could do something really good there.”
“He’s a great guy, an easy guy to spend time with. He’s calm and very professional and I think he fits very well into our team when it comes to training and nutrition. I feel like he took a big step up this winter and I think everyone can see that now.”
Vingegaard has also clearly stepped up in 2024. He appears to be near his best in March, which boosts his confidence for the Tour de France. Last year some personal issues disrupted his spring and he was only third at Paris-Nice. This year he is producing some of his…
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