Only a couple of years ago, Jonas Vingegaard worked in a fish market in Denmark. Today, however, Vingegaard soaked in the thunderous applause along the Champs-Elysees as he rode into Paris in the coveted yellow jersey as the 2022 Tour de France champion.
Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) raced in his first Tour de France last summer, scoring an impressive runner-up finish behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). But this year, Vingegaard stood on the top step on the final podium in Paris as the newly coronated Tour de France champion who prevented Pogacar from winning a third-straight yellow jersey.
The 2022 Tour de France had the Grand Depart in Copenhagen with the first three stages set in Denmark. It’s only fitting then that a Danish rider would be the one to secure the prestigious “maillot juene.”
| 2022 Tour de France – Final GC Standings |
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 79:33:20
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +2:43
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +7:22
- David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +13:39
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +15:46
Slovenia’s Pogacar — who won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021 — finished in second place this year. He was the betting favorite, but he lost the lead in the Alps and never recovered.
Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France champion, secured a podium finish in third place for Ineos Grenadiers.
Jumbo-Visma’s domination
Jumbo-Visma entered the 2022 Tour de France on a mission to win the yellow jersey. In 2020, Primoz Roglic blew the first-place lead against Pogacar on the penultimate stage during an individual time trial. It was a devastating loss, and both Roglic and Jumbo-Visma sought revenge last summer. However, two gnarly crashes in the first week of the 2021 tour prematurely ended Roglic’s shot at redemption. Vingegaard stepped up as Jumbo-Visma’s primary GC contender and the rookie put on a sensational performance with a second-place finish.
Heading into 2022, Jumbo-Visma had two potential GC contenders with Roglic and Vingegaard. However, an unfortunate Roglic crashed on the dreaded cobblestones in Stage 5, forcing him to drop out due to injuries. Once again, Vingegaard took over as Jumbo-Visma’s main rider.
Teammate Wout van Aet won Stage 4 after a trio of second-place finishes in the first three stages. Van Aert held on to the yellow jersey for four stages before Pogacar seized it with a victory in Stage 6. Pogacar only defended the yellow jersey through Stage 10 before Vingegaard seized it in the Alps. Pogacar cracked on Col du Granon and Vingegaard won his first-ever stage, snagging the yellow jersey in Stage 11. Vingegaard successfully defended it for the final 10 stages.
Everyone anticipated Pogacar would make a move in the Pyrenees to regain the lead and the yellow jersey, but the big attack never happened. Jumbo-Visma was a superior team compared to UAE Team Emirates, and Vingegaard never let Pogacar make any significant gains on his lead. Pogacar crashed in Stage 18 and then cracked on the final ascent at Hautacam, which sealed his fate.
2022 Tour de France Stage Results
Wout van Aert won three stages this year and locked up the green jersey as the top sprinter in the peloton. Pogacar also added three stage wins for the most this year.
It took 19 stages before a Frenchman won a stage on the 2022 tour when Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) won a sprint at Cahors.
Jumbo-Visma led all teams with six stage wins from three different riders.
| 2022 Tour de France Stage Winners |
| Stage | Winner | Type | Yellow Jersey |
| 1 | Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl) | Time Trial | Yves Lampaert |
| 2 | Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl) | Flat | Wout van Aert |
| 3 | Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange) | Flat | Wout van Aert |
| 4 | Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) | Hilly | Wout van Aert |
| 5 | Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) | Hilly | Wout van Aert |
| 6 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirate) | Hilly | Tadej Pogacar |
| 7 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirate) | Mountain | Tadej Pogacar |
| 8 | Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) | Hilly | Tadej Pogacar |
| 9 | Bob Jungels (AG2R Citroen) | Mountain | Tadej Pogacar |
| 10 | Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) | Hilly | Tadej Pogacar |
| 11 | Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) | Mountain | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 12 | Tom Pidcock (Ineos) | Mountain | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 13 | Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) | Flat | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 14 | Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) | Hilly | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 15 | Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) | Flat | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 16 | Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) | Hilly | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 17 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirate) | Mountain | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 18 | Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) | Mountain | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 19 | Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) | Flat | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 20 | Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) | Time Trial | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 21 | Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) | Flat | Jonas Vingegaard |
Hugo Houle won the first stage for Canada in 34 years, which he dedicated his brother who passed away a decade earlier in a hit-and-run accident on his bike.
Check out all of OG’s 2022 Tour de France coverage.