It might be because he grew up on the shores of the North Sea, thus truly understanding what it means to live in contact with the sea – his parents work in a local fish market – but Jonas Vingegaard seemed particularly at home in the Race of the Two Seas. Jonas was born and raised on the sea, but blossomed in the mountains, such as those of San Giacomo and Monte Petrano, the toughest of this 2024 edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico, which he tackled as if he were racing on flat ground.
“This is one of the biggest victories of my career, for sure,” he declared after lifting the Trident of Neptune to the sky. The Tirreno-Adriatico thus adds another top name to its roll of honour, that of the two-time defending Tour de France winner and the world’s strongest climber. The Dane succeeds Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar in the list, two other superstars of contemporary cycling. We may be one-sided… but there really isn’t another week-long stage race that can boast such a stellar list of winners.
Furthermore, this year’s starting list featured an array of sprinters worthy of a Giro d’Italia or a Tour de France, or perhaps even better, since they usually split on one or the other race. On the Tyrrhenian coast, Jonathan Milan was regarded as one of the world’s best prospective sprinters, but seven days later, on the Adriatic coast, he effectively became one.
Beating Jasper Philipsen once may be a fluke, but doing it twice is a sign, to say the least. On top of that, today’s stage in San Benedetto del Tronto was the fastest ever in the history of the Tirreno-Adriatico, which means that the engine of its winner must be nothing short of exceptional. Not to mention that Jonny, in the hustle and bustle of the last kilometre, was left in the wind for a few seconds with 600 metres to go, risking his chance of victory. However, not only did the Italian manage to sprint (thanks to some solid work by his teammate Consonni), but he also crushed the resistance of Philipsen in an exciting shoulder-to-shoulder challenge that saw the Belgian – internationally regarded as the best sprinter in the world – settling for fourth position.
In short, the cover of this Corsa dei Due Mari features the strongest climber and the strongest sprinter of the moment. Not a bad edition indeed.
