Dane Jonas Vingegaard won the Tour de France for the first time in his career on Sunday. He emerged victorious from a thrilling two-week duel with reigning champion Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.
Aged 25, Vingegaard is the first Dane to win the Big Loop since 1996, when Bjarne Riis signed the feat. He finished two minutes and 43 seconds ahead of Pogacar.
Vingegaard finished in second place last year. This time, he built himself a cushion in the mountains. He grabbed the yellow jersey from Pogacar in the Alps, with a memorable ascent of the Col du Granon, before demonstrating his strength again in Hautacam, in the Pyrenees.
Vingegaard also widened the gap on Saturday in the individual time trial.
Jasper Philipsen of Belgium won the final stage at the Champs-Élysées in a sprint.
This Tour de France was also marked by Hugo Houle’s stage victory on Tuesday. A member of the Israel Premier Tech team, Houle became the first Quebecer to win a stage of the prestigious event, which has been held since 1903.
Houle finished 24th overall. The athlete from Sainte-Perpétue was 88th in the last stage.
Third place in the general classification went to Briton Geraint Thomas, the big winner in 2018.
Ontarian Michael Woods had to miss the last stage, having tested positive for COVID-19.
Woods won a Spanish Vuelta stage in 2018 and another in 2020. He won the Route d’Occitanie race last month. In April, he finished sixth in the Flèche Wallonne.
On Sunday, the Israel-Premier Tech team was also without Quebecer Guillaume Boivin, who was not feeling well. He eventually tested negative for COVID-19.
Quebecer Antoine Duchesne finished 86th on Sunday and 62nd overall, with Groupama-FDJ.