Jonas Vingegaard celebrated his second Tour de France victory in a row with a pizza in his car.
The pictures of his team from Paris on Twitter once again showed the frugality of the 26-year-old champion from Denmark. In the evening, however, they served up more: "A nice meal" to celebrate the "great tour", said Vingegaard, who is already planning his next coup: "I want to come back next year - and win, of course."
Denmark plans jubilant reception for Tour de France winner
The slender superstar is celebrated in his home country for his modest nature. A columnist for the newspaper "Ekstra Bladet" unceremoniously named him the most successful sportsman in the history of the northern European country. Vingegaard will be received at City Hall in the Danish capital Copenhagen on Wednesday afternoon. Tens of thousands will then celebrate him on City Hall Square, just as they did when he first won a year ago. On Thursday, the second big party will take place in his home town of Glyngøre in Jutland, which has a population of 1400. He was welcomed there by 20,000 fans last year.
However, Vingegaard may leave his home country of Denmark. "We can't live in Denmark, because unfortunately there are no mountains there. So we have to deal with that," said his fiancée Trine Hansen. The family may be travelling to Switzerland. But first the Tour winner will take a break, then Vingegaard will prepare for the Tour of Spain, which he will compete in from 26 August.
Vingegaard's title defence against rival Tadej Pogacar, whom the Dane beat by 7:29 minutes, was only a few hours ago, but the Slovenian was already looking ahead to next year's rematch. He raised hopes for another thrilling duel between the two exceptional riders.
"Jonas had two really great days where I just couldn't keep up, and I had one of the worst performances ever. We will both continue to fight for victory in the future," promised the 24-year-old Pogacar after his defeat to the now two-time Tour winner.
A three-way battle at the Tour de France in 2024?
Next year, the duel for overall victory could even turn into a three-way battle. World champion Remco Evenepoel will be in the race for the top spot. "Remco Evenepoel is another player coming into the ring - he can complete the podium, in whatever position," said cycling expert and former rider Jens Voigt on Eurosport. And Pogacar said: "There are more youngsters to come. We have a great future ahead of us."
It is questionable whether the 23-year-old Belgian Evenepoel will line up for his team Soudal-Quick Step. Recently, there have also been rumours of a change for the highly talented climbing specialist. He cancelled this year's Tour of France after a coronavirus infection set him back at the Giro d'Italia. There will at least be a duel between Evenepoel and Vingegaard at the Tour of Spain. However, the real showdown will take place on France's country roads in 2024.
Innovations: Côte d'Azur instead of Champs Élysées
There will be a few other changes for the 111th edition of the Tour. Next year, the long-distance race will not finish in Paris as usual, but in Nice on 21 July. The reason for this is the Olympic Games in the French capital, which will be held from 26 July to 11 August. In addition, the Tour ends with a demanding time trial starting in Monaco. The last time there was a battle against the clock on the final day was in 1989, with painful memories for the French. Back then, the American Greg LeMond ousted the Frenchman Laurent Fignon from first place by just eight seconds in a historic duel.
The Tour is also starting in Italy for the first time. The riders will start in Florence, with a total of three stages planned in the neighbouring country. The Tour organisation ASO will present further details on the individual stages on 25 October.
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