Not far from where Jonas Vingegaard is from, in North Jutland, is the town of Nykøbing Mors, known, among other things, as the birthplace of the writer Aksel Sandemose. The writer lives on, half a century after his death, through the Law of Jante, or janteloven in Danish.
These ten rules essentially boil down to the following: you should not think you're anything special, and that you're not better than anyone else. It's the kind of code that many people in Jutland live by, that the collective is more important that the individual. Vingegaard has never been overly flashy, or arrogant, or even particularly passionate in his wins, but this has never been his personality type. He is calm, collected, and steady.
Janteloven probably wasn't at the top of Vingegaard's mind when he finished stage 19 of the Tour de France, a day where he lost more time to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), but it might just be part of him. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider was visibly upset after the finish, partly because of the disappointment at not winning the Tour, but also because his team put so much effort in on stage 19, effort which ultimately did not pay off.
Vingegaard's teammate, Matteo Jorgenson, had been in the day's break as a satellite rider, ready to help his leader, but then changed plans once it was clear that the Dane was not on a good day. Jorgenson ended up finishing second on the stage by just 21 seconds to Pogačar. Vingegaard and Jorgenson spoke after the finish, with the former also being greeted by his pregnant wife, Trine. It was an emotional moment.
"I put myself in his shoes sometimes," Jorgenson explained. "I think about being in the hospital, where he was, and having the pressure of the team on him. He puts his own pressure on himself too. To arrive at the level he's at, it's miraculous. That's what I said, you have to be proud of that. It's super normal that he's disappointed at the moment, but I just told him that I was proud of him because it takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice to be where he is now."
Vingegaard, who was seriously injured in the crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April, has spoken before how incredible it is to even be at this Tour, let alone to be challenging for the win. However much succour this fact must bring, it must still be crushingly disappointing to be so close, and to come up short. For the past two Tours Vingegaard has only tasted success. Now, he will have to face up to defeat.
By the time the 27-year-old spoke outside the Visma bus, the emotion had dissipated. There was acceptance of his situation, and also pride in his efforts.
"Even if you would have told me that I would be on the podium I would have been very happy," he explained. "As I said, the whole preparation has been far from ideal. To be in this position now, it's something I could only dream about before the Tour.
"I wasn't on a good day, and halfway through the stage I had to switch my mindset from trying to go for the win," Vingegaard continued. "That was also the reason we had Matteo and Wilco up the road in the first place, as satellite riders, if I wanted to go. But I had to switch my mindset, and instead of attacking I tried to follow instead. Then we gave the chance to Matteo, and he did an incredible job. Unfortunately he was caught in the end, but that's how it is.
"Maybe something is catching up now. I think it's normal with only one and half months of preparation. I said from the start it would be crazy if I could fight [for yellow] with one-and-half months, but I did it for two-and-a-half weeks, and now the fight is over."
Asked if it would be difficult to rest after such disappointment, Vingegaard joked: "I think I will sleep pretty well because I'm pretty tired. That won't be a problem."
Now, the battle is no longer for the yellow jersey – even if there are still two GC days left. Instead, the fight will be for second place on the podium, something the Dane holds by just under two minutes from Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).
"I followed him today, but there are still two hard days to come until Nice, but I will do absolutely everything I can do to follow him," Vingegaard explained.
"Tomorrow will be the same for me, that I will try to follow Remco, and focus more on that. I know I said before that I wanted to race for victory, but when you have the legs that I have you have to settle."
While Evenepoel rode on, Vingegaard sat on his wheel, something we might see again on Saturday's mountain stage.
"Why should he pull with Remco if Pogačar has three or five minutes?" Vingegaard's DS Grischa Niermann said. "That in the end doesn't matter anymore, it was more just focusing on Remco."
"He did a fantastic job today, but there was one guy stronger," he added. "That's a little bit the story of the whole Tour. We have to accept that."
Vingegaard will be disappointed to not taste victory again on the world's biggest stage, but hopefully, in time, he can realise that being here is a victory in itself. He won't be overly excited about that, though, because that's not who he is. He will sleep easy tonight.
