‘My career would be complete’ - Vingegaard savours Grand Tour set after crushing Giro win

Jonas Vingegaard has completed a chapter of cycling history by sealing a full set of Grand Tour wins in Rome. After his triumphs at the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023 and at the Vuelta a España last season, Vingegaard has now won the Giro d’Italia.

He becomes the eighth male rider in history to win all three Grand Tours, after Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome.

“To win all three is something really special for me,” Vingegaard told RAI after completing the final stage in Rome. “It’s hard to find words, and it’s really special to have my family with me at the finish, to hug them. They’ve always supported me.”

Vingegaard has won five stages on this Giro, all mountaintop finishes, and he celebrated each triumph by kissing a picture of his wife and children on his handlebars. They were present in Rome to witness him seal his Giro triumph on Sunday evening.

“Yes, it’s special. To win this many races, I’ve never dreamt of it and having them next to me is something very special,” Vingegaard said. “I could never have done it without them.”

Later on in the mixed zone, Vingegaard admitted the achievement had surpassed even his own expectations.

“It’s way more than a dream coming true. In some kind of way I feel like, not that it is the case, but if I would stop tomorrow, my career would be complete. Of course, I still have a lot of goals, but I also want to enjoy this at the moment,” he told CyclingPro.net.

Vingegaard was without peer at this Giro, winning atop the Blockhaus, Corno alle Scale, Pila, Carì and Piancavallo, and distancing second-placed Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) by some 5:22 in the overall standings. Yet for all the dominance, he said doubt remained part of the equation.

“I think in top sports, there is always some kind of doubt in yourself,” Vingegaard said. “That’s how it is in top sports. But with the shape I’ve had here, I gained lots of confidence, and I feel like I’ve gained shape in this race as well.”

The Visma | Lease a Bike rider will hope, of course, that the Giro is only the first leg of a famous double. His thoughts have already turned firmly towards the Tour de France, where another duel with Tadej Pogačar awaits, and where riders like Remco Evenepoel and debutant Paul Seixas will also be hoping to muscle in on the duopoly that has defined the race in the 2020s.

“I’ll stay in Rome for a few days with my family, and we’ll enjoy a bit of time together,” Vingegaard said of his next steps. “Then I’ll go back to Denmark to begin my preparation for the Tour de France. And then the Tour de France will come around quickly…”