When the biggest cycling race of the year was just underway, after the opening guest appearance in Denmark and the first stages on France's summery country roads, everything seemed clear. Tadej Pogacar, surprising winner in 2020 and dominator of the Tour last year, simply seemed too outstanding for this stage. While the Jumbo-Visma team experienced a chaotic day of breakdowns on their chase over the cobblestones in the north of France, the Slovenian once again controlled the action.
However, the Tour de France organisers had conjured up a historic showdown in their planning and then actually got it. At the end of the second week of the Tour, Pogacar lost the yellow jersey. The Dane Jonas Vingegaard attacked the supposed dominator at the mountain top finish, where an epochal change in cycling began.
Tour de France: Duplicity of events
Greg LeMond had prepared his first Tour victory here in 1986. It was a worthy performance by Vingegaard, who neutralised all subsequent attacks by the versatile champion from Slovenia with his team. As astonishing as the rise of the former fish factory worker Vingegaard may be, the big tours also demonstrated the ongoing process of concentration. Those with big budgets have big opportunities. Team Jumbo-Visma made a brute effort to dominate the most important stage race. Wout van Aert as time trial star, stage winner, winner of the points classification and noble helper was the most impressive representative of this ensemble, which is strong enough to cope with many setbacks.
It was even clearer in the women's race that a few teams stand out in the competition and that ultimately only a very small number of riders compete for the podium in the most important tours of the year. The fact that a woman, Annemiek van Vleuten from Team Movistar, dominated all three tours in Italy, Spain and France should also be a cause for concern for the organisers. After all, excitement is important in the long term to make this sport even more attractive. And 2022 was already a very important year, with the women's Tour de France being the highlight.
Results of the grand tours
Giro d'Italia
Overall ranking
- Jai Hindley (AUS/Bora-Hansgrohe)
- Richard Carapaz (ECU/Ineos Grenadiers)
- Mikel Landa (ESP/ Bahrain Victorious)
Mountain classification
Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma)
Scoring
Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ)
Team ranking
Bahrain-Victorious
Giro Donne
Overall ranking
- Annemiek van Vleuten (NED/ Movistar)
- Marta Cavalli (ITA/FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope)
- Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ)
Scoring
Van Vleuten
Mountain classification
Kristen Faulkner (USA/BikeExchange-Jayco)
Team ranking
FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope
Tour de France
Overall ranking
- Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/ Jumbo-Visma)
- Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Team Emirates)
- Geraint Thomas (GBR/Ineos Grenadiers)
Scoring
Wout van Aert (BEL/Jumbo-Visma)
Mountain classification
Jonas Vingegaard
Team ranking
Ineos Grenadiers
Tour de France Femmes
Overall ranking
- Annemiek van Vleuten (NED/ Movistar)
- Demi Vollering (NED/ SD Worx)
- Katarzyna Niewiadoma (POL/Canyon-SRAM)
Scoring
Marianne Vos (NED/Jumbo-Visma)
Mountain classification
Demi Vollering
Team ranking
Canyon-SRAM
Vuelta a Espana
Overall ranking
- Remco Evenepoel (BEL/Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl)
- Enric Mas (ESP/Movistar)
- Juan Ayuso (ESP/UAE Emirates)
Scoring
Mads Pedersen (DEN/Trek-Segafredo)
Mountain classification
Richard Carapaz (ECU/Ineos Grenadiers)
Team ranking
UAE Team Emirates
