The Dane Jonas Vingegaard adds his name to a Vuelta a España record that is the talk of the town

BarcelonaThe Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Visma / Lease a Bike) adds his name to the list of winners of the Tour of Catalonia. The Catalan race, one of the oldest in the world, has gone from being sidelined in the calendar to becoming one of the events with the most impressive palmarès in recent years. In the last four years, the winners have been the Slovenians Primoz Roglic, Tadej Pogacar, and now, Vingegaard. That is to say, the great dominators of world cycling. And not so long ago, those who wore the leader's colors of the tour were Quintana, Yates, or Alejandro Valverde.

The Dane started the Tour relaxed, not wanting to attack when necessary, but in the two queen stages he has shown his superiority. And today, in the last stage of this 105th edition, he has limited himself to watching others fight to be the winners on the final circuit of Montjuïc, the end of a 95.1-kilometer stage. The Australian Brady Gilmore (NSN Cycling Team) achieved this, giving the new Barcelona-based team, with Andrés Iniesta as a shareholder, their second victory in the Tour. Gilmore beat the Frenchman Dorion Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), who has won two stages, and the Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Vingegaard has confirmed the good moment of a Tour that attracts talent and takes care of the route with stages like the one in Berguedà, a classic event on Saturday, with thousands of people creating a great atmosphere on the roadsides. The Dane finished with a Patum mask on Saturday, accepting the bet after winning the tour and confirming that he is perhaps the only one who can challenge Pogacar today. A man who, not so long ago, still worked in a fish factory and played football, without knowing if he could dedicate himself to cycling. But he decided to give his all for this sport and, seeing the results, he was right.

"I am optimistic about the Giro, where I will have to be at a high level," Vingegaard stated. "I have won two stages and the general classification. It has been a great week and I am very happy about it. It has been a fantastic start to the season for me and I hope to continue like this," said the Dane, who recently won Paris-Nice. "I feel good at the moment. Perhaps I am not yet at my best because this year we have planned to be better as the year progresses." When asked about the Tour, which will start from Barcelona, "it is another great objective of the year and I also need to be in good shape. I have really liked this area of Catalonia, the people are very friendly".

The Visma leader has surpassed the Frenchman Lenny Martínez (Bahrain Victorious) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) on the podium by 1:22 and 1:30, respectively. The Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finished fifth and the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (EF Education) tenth, in a Top 10 that for the first time in history has finished without national cyclists.

This year's edition has been a public success despite the performance of the Catalan cyclists, which was quite discreet. Many Colombian fans have come to each stage to say goodbye to Nairo Quintana, who is retiring this season.