Just a couple of years ago, Jonas Vingegaard worked in a fish market in Denmark and today he soaked in the thunderous applause from the crowd along the Champs-Elysees as he rode into Paris in the coveted yellow jersey as the 2022 Tour de France champion.
Jonas Vingegaard from Jumbo-Visma celebrates his overall victory in the 2022 Tour de France at the finish line in Paris. (Image: Christian Hartmann/Reuters)
Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) raced in his first Tour de France last summer with an impressive runner-up finish when he took second place behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirate). But this year, Vingegaard took the top step on the final podium in Paris and prevented Pogacar from winning a third-straight yellow jersey.
The 2022 Tour de France had the Grand Depart in Copenhagen with the first three stages set in Denmark. It’s fitting that a Danish rider would be the one to secure the prestigious Maillot Juene.
2022 TOUR DE FRANCE – FINAL GC STANDINGS
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 79:33:20
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +2:43
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +7:22
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +13:39
Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +15:46
Slovenia’s Pogacar — who won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021 — finished in second place this year. He was the betting favorite, but he lost the lead in the Alps and never recovered.
Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France champion, secured a podium finish in third place for Ineos Grenadiers.
💛🇩🇰 Jonas Vingegaard wins the #TDF2022!
💛🇩🇰 Jonas Vingegaard remporte le #TDF2022 ! pic.twitter.com/QTd4ipsxNH
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 24, 2022
Jumbo-Visma Domination
Jumbo-Visma entered the 2022 Tour de France on a mission to win the yellow jersey. In 2020, Primoz Roglic blew a first-place lead against Pogacar on the penultimate stage during an individual time trial. It was a devastating loss, and both Roglic and Jumbo-Visma wanted to seek revenge last summer. However, two gnarly crashes in the first week of the 2021 Le Tour prematurely ended Roglic shot at redemption. Vingegaard stepped up as Jumbo-Visma’s primary GC contender and the rookie put on a sensational performance with a second-place finish.
Heading into 2022, Jumbo-Visma had two potential GC contenders with Roglic and Vingegaard. However, an unfortunate Roglic crashed on the dreaded cobblestones in Stage 5 set forth another situation when Roglic had to drop out due to injuries. Once again, Vingegaard took over as Jumbo-Visma’s main rider.
Teammate Wout van Aet won Stage 4 after a trio of second-place finishes in the first three stages. Van Aert held on to the yellow jersey for four stages before Pogacar seized in with a victory in Stage 6. Pogacar only defended the yellow jersey through Stage 10 before Vingegaard seized it in the Alps. Pogacar cracked on Col du Granon and Vingegaard won his first-ever stage and snagged the yellow jersey in Stage 11. Vingegaard successfully defended it for the final ten stages.
Everyone anticipated Pogacar would make a move in the Pyrenees to regain the lead and the yellow jersey, but the big attack never happened. Jumbo-Visma was a superior team compared to UAE Team Emirates and Vingegaard never let Pogacar make any significant gains on his lead. Pogacar crashed in Stage 18 and then cracked on the final ascent at Hautacam, which sealed his fate.
2022 Tour de France Stage Results
Wout van Aert and Pogacar both won three stages this year. Jonas Vingegaard and Jasper Philipsen won two stages each.
It took 19 stages before a Frenchman won a stage on Le Tour this year when Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) won a sprint stage at Cahors.
2022 TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE WINNERS
Stage
Winner
Type
Yellow Jersey
1
Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl)
Time Trial
Yves Lampaert
2
Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl)
Flat
Wout van Aert
3
Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange)
Flat
Wout van Aert
4
Wout van Aert (Jubo-Visma)
Hilly
Wout van Aert
5
Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech)
Hilly
Wout van Aert
6
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirate)
Hilly
Tadej Pogacar
7
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirate)
Mountain
Tadej Pogacar
8
Wout van Aert (Jubo-Visma)
Hilly
Tadej Pogacar
9
Bob Jungels (AG2R Citroen)
Mountain
Tadej Pogacar
10
Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost)
Hilly
Tadej Pogacar
11
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
Mountain
Jonas Vingegaard
12
Tom Pidcock (Ineos)
Mountain
Jonas Vingegaard
13
Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo)
Flat
Jonas Vingegaard
14
Michael Matthews (BikeExchange)
Hilly
Jonas Vingegaard
15
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Flat
Jonas Vingegaard
16
Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech)
Hilly
Jonas Vingegaard
17
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirate)
Mountain
Jonas Vingegaard
18
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
Mountain
Jonas Vingegaard
19
Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma)
Flat
Jonas Vingegaard
20
Wout van Aert (Jubo-Visma)
Time Trial
Jonas Vingegaard
21
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Flat
Jonas Vingegaard
Hugo Houle won the first stage for Canada in 34 years, but it was an emotional victory because he dedicated the victory to his brother who passed away a decade earlier in a hit-and-run accident on his bike.
Check out all of OG’s 2022 Tour de France coverage.
