Jonas Vingegaard returned to competition at the CRO Race on Tuesday, 65 days after he rolled into Paris as the winner of the Tour de France.
The Jumbo-Visma rider was feted by multitudes in Copenhagen on his return to Denmark, and he appears to have been processing the magnitude of his achievement ever since.
"That was very overwhelming," Vingegaard admitted at the press conference on the eve of the CRO Race. "There were a lot of people, not only on the big square in Copenhagen but all the way from the airport to the main square. It was a big and nice celebration, and I really enjoyed it. It was very overwhelming."
Vingegaard was initially slated to line up at the Tour of Denmark in early August, but the race was quickly scratched from his programme and he soon confirmed that he would not be making the trip to Wollongong for the World Championships.
Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Frans Maassen later told Ekstra Bladet that Vingegaard was in need of a break after becoming Denmark's second Tour winner after Bjarne Riis in 1996.
"He has been having a tough time since the Tour," Maassen said. "We have to understand that it was difficult to win the Tour de France, what with everything that comes with it."
Vingegaard, for his part, insisted on Monday that his life had not changed unduly since he claimed the yellow jersey in July.
"Of course, people recognise you a bit more on the road. But in general, it's not like something changes," he said. "I'm still the same Jonas as I was before, we still have the same life at home as we had before. Not a lot has changed for me personally, but of course more people recognise me."
Vingegaard spent the first weeks after his Tour victory at home in Denmark before travelling to Spain in early September to prepare for his return to competition at the CRO Race.
The Dane will use the six-day event, which got underway on Tuesday in Osijek and concludes on Sunday in Zagreb, to build towards Il Lombardia, his final race of the 2022 season. He is also scheduled to participate in an ASO-organised criterium in Singapore on October 30.
"I relaxed. I was at home, just enjoying life. And now the past month or three weeks I've been in Spain to try to prepare for these races," said Vingegaard.
"First of all, I needed to have a break after the Tour and then I wanted to start to try to build up towards Il Lombardia. We looked at the CRO Race and we were thinking it was a good preparation for Il Lombardia – and it’s also a nice race."
The Bahrain Victorious pairing of Matej Mohorič, Damiano Caruso and Ineos Grenadiers' Geraint Thomas are among the leading names in action in Croatia this week, while Vingegaard is flanked by Koen Bouwman in the Jumbo-Visma line-up. Vingegaard gently downplayed his objectives for the race.
"It's not like we have any goal – just to do our best. Hopefully, I'm in shape to fight for something but we'll see in the next week," said Vingegaard.
"There's not an uphill finish and I would have liked that, but it's still a very hilly race and there are also mountains. I'm looking forward to it, it's a good parcours. I'll try to do my best. I enjoy racing, so we'll see what happens."
