Cycling: Vingegaard superior overall tour winner – Gall eighth

In the overall standings, the Dane has a lead of seven and a half minutes over Slovenian Tadej Pogacar and almost eleven minutes over Brit Adam Yates. Felix Gall finished his first Tour of France in a strong eighth place.

In the end, the East Tyrolean, who won the king’s stage on Wednesday, was more than 16 minutes behind Vingegaard, who had now won the Tour twice. The Italian Giulio Ciccone won the red dotted jersey for the best climber ahead of Gall. Jasper Philipsen got the green jersey for the best points. The 115.5-kilometer final stage, on which the yellow jersey is traditionally no longer attacked, was won by Belgian Jordi Meeus in the finish sprint ahead of his compatriot Philipsen and Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen.

“An incredible fight”

“Of course I’m very happy to have won the Tour de France for the second time. It was my big goal this year. We had great confidence, knew our strengths and how we could use them,” said Vingegaard. Nevertheless, the duel with Pogacar was a duel of seconds for a long time: “This year it was an incredible fight between me and Tadej. It was really hard to crack it.”

The 25-year-old Gall confidently tackled his first Tour of France after strong performances in the spring. However, not even the biggest optimists would have believed that they would end up in the top ten in the overall standings and triumph in the king’s stage. After Adolf Christian (3rd/1957), Peter Luttenberger (5th/1996) and Georg Totschnig (7th/2004), the East Tyrolean is only the fourth Austrian among the top ten of the tour. Stage victories before him were only Max Bulla (3/1931), Georg Totschnig (2005) and Patrick Konrad (2021).

In the first week, Gall caused a sensation for the first time with a third place in the Pyrenees, and subsequently wore the jersey of the climber with the best points for one day. In the final count of the mountain classification, the East Tyrolean finally took second place, which no local professional cyclist had done before him. Bernhard Kohl was subsequently disqualified in 2008 as jersey winner and third overall because of doping.

Gall slipped into the role of the captain

As the tour progressed, Gall also slipped into the role of captain of the French AG2R squad and fully repaid that trust. With the victory in the king’s stage on Wednesday, the 25-year-old drove to the current high point of his career. As if that wasn’t enough, the Tour debutant narrowly missed his second stage win on Saturday in the Vosges, when he was only beaten by Pogacar.

In addition to Gall, all five other Austrians also reached the finish on the Champs Élysees in Paris. Felix Großschartner was also convincing as one of Pogacar’s most important mountain helpers, he finished 23rd overall. Patrick Konrad played an important role in the temporary takeover of the yellow jersey from his captain Jai Hindley in the first week and finished the tour in 82nd place. Gregor Mühlberger was 44th, Marco Haller 78th and Michael Gogl 133rd.

From the fish factory to the yellow jersey

Triumphator Vingegaard, who for a long time was only a second-rate amateur and had also worked in a fish factory, had donned the yellow jersey since the sixth stage. After the lead over Pogacar had shrunk to eight seconds in the meantime, the defending champion clearly distanced the Slovenian in the Alps. The superior time trial success on Tuesday and Pogacar’s collapse in the queen’s stage to Courchevel a day later increased the Dane’s lead to seven and a half minutes. The Dane easily fended off Pogacar’s last desperate attack on Saturday in the Vosges.

The duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard has lasted three years. This year it was gripping, but at the same time characterized by friendship and appreciation. The two get along well, they respect each other and they recognize the extraordinary achievements of the opponent. The rivalry between the dominators will shape the next few years and provide cycling with great duels. The momentum is currently with 26-year-old Vingegaard, last year he distanced himself from Pogacar (24) by 2:43 minutes.

However, given the history of cycling, the exceptional performances of both athletes raise doubts. Both Vingegaard and Pogacar understood the skepticism but reiterated being clean. “I don’t eat anything that I wouldn’t give my daughter,” said Vingegaard.

On Wednesday the Dane will again be given a big reception in Copenhagen. From the airport we drive in a convertible to the town hall square, where thousands of people will be waiting. A day later we continue to Glingøre. Incidentally, they were so sure of victory there that they started planning for the reception in January.

Greatest successes of Austrians at the Tour de France

Previous top results by Austrians in the Tour de France, which has been held since 1903:

Rating:

• 3. Adolf Christian 1957
• 5. Peter Luttenberger 1996
• 7. Georg Totschnig 2004
• 8.Felix Gall 2023
• 12. Georg Totschnig 2003
• 13. Peter Luttenberger 1997
• 14.Gerhard Zadrobilek 1987
• 15. Max Bulla 1931
• 15.Patrick Konrad 2022

Stage wins:

• 3 Max Bulla 1931
• 1 Georg Totschnig 2005
• 1 Patrick Konrad 2021
• 1 Felix Gall 2023

Mountain rating (awarded since 1933):

• 2.Felix Gall 2023
• 7. Adolf Christian 1959
• 9. Peter Luttenberger 1996

Note: Bernhard Kohl was third overall and winner of the mountain jersey in 2008, but was convicted of doping and subsequently disqualified.