Tour de France: Vingegaard seals maiden title as Philipsen sprints to stage win in Paris

Team
Jumbo-Visma
rider
Vingegaard
led
back-to-back
champion
Tadej
Pogacar
by
more
than
three
and
a
half
minutes
heading
into
the
largely
processional
finale
on
Sunday.

The
Dane
saw
out
the
job
in
a
stress-free
manner
–
even
enjoying
some
champagne
during
the
116-kilometre
stretch
–
to
end
Pogacar’s
spell
of
General
Classification
dominance.

A
few
packs
of
riders
tried
to
break
free
of
the
bunch
on
the
Champs-Elysees,
setting
up
a
frantic
late
sprint
that
saw
Belgium’s
Philipsen
earn
his
second
stage
win
of
this
year’s
race.

Vingegaard
crossed
over
moments
later,
in
unison
with
his
Jumbo-Visma
team
after
retaining
the
yellow
jersey,
which
he
had
been
in
possession
of
since
stage
11.

He
was
also
crowned
King
of
the
Mountains,
while
team-mate
Wout
van
Aert
joined
the
celebrations
in
his
green
jersey
after
another
solid
outing.

Jumbo-Visma
are
the
first
team
to
win
the
yellow,
polka
dot
and
green
jerseys
at
the
same
edition
of
the
race
since
Faema
managed
the
feat
in
1969,
thanks
to
Eddy
Merckx.

Pogacar
never
came
within
two
minutes
and
18
seconds
of
Vingegaard
in
the
GC,
once
the
Danish
rider
had
the
lead.

The
Slovenian
therefore
had
to
settle
for
the
consolation
prize
of
the
white
jersey
for
a
third
year
running,
with
that
award
given
to
the
best-placed
rider
under
the
age
of
26.

Danish
delight
in
French
capital

It
is
rather
fitting
that
this
year’s
Tour
de
France,
which
started
with
the
first
three
races
in
Denmark
three
weeks
ago,
was
won
by
a
Dane
for
just
the
second
time,
after
Bjarne
Riis
in
1996.
Indeed,
it
is
the
first
time
in
30
years
that
the
winner
of
the
race
has
been
a
native
of
the
country
where
the
race
started.

Vingegaard
was
a
fitting
winner
in
the
GC,
though
Sunday’s
final
leg
also
belonged
to
Philipsen,
who
added
to
his
stage
15
triumph
with
another
victory
on
the
famous
streets
of
Paris.

“It’s
a
childhood
dream
coming
true
–
this
will
take
a
while
to
realise,”
Philipsen
said.
“I’m
super
proud
of
the
team
for
finishing
the
Tour
like
this.
It
went
ideal
for
me.
I
was
in
a
great
position.
I’m
super
happy
and
proud
to
win
on
this
beautiful
Champs-Elysees
by
the
Arc
de
Triomphe.”