Vingegaard to start season at O Gran Camino
On Thursday, Team Jumbo-Visma will start the Spanish four-day stage race O Gran Camino. It will be the first race of the season for reigning Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. The Dutch team, with its mix of experience and young talent, is hoping to do well.
O Gran Camino will be held for the second time. The mountainous landscape of north-western Spain is an ideal preparation for the riders for the rest of the season. This is undoubtedly the case for Vingegaard as he prepares for his first race kilometres in 2023. Sports director Frans Maassen has already seen excellent preparation from the 26-year-old Dane. "The winter went well for Jonas, even though he returned home just before this race due to personal circumstances. He is looking forward to starting his season here. Jonas needs to prepare for Paris-Nice, a big goal for him at the beginning of March. Over the next few days, he will be able to compete with the better climbers.”
The riders will compete in three stages and a final time trial. On the first day, the peloton will face two third-category climbs and one second-category climb. Stages two and three should be Vingegaard's playground. "On paper, day two looks like a good day for Jonas”, Maassen says. "On day three, all the GC riders will have to put in serious effort anyway." O Gran Camino concludes with an 18-kilometre individual time trial to Santiago de Compostela.
"We owe it to ourselves to show something good"
Vingegaard will be joined by Steven Kruijswijk and Rohan Dennis. "With Stevie and Rohan, we have two super strong and experienced guys in the team”, Maassen says. "They also know what it takes to win a race. We owe it to ourselves to show something good.” The 24-year-old Hungarian champion Attila Valter will debut for Team Jumbo-Visma at the O Gran Camino.
As well as a wealth of experience, three riders of the Jumbo-Visma Development Team will also participate. Lars Boven, Johannes Staune-Mittet and Loe van Belle complete the squad. According to sports director Robert Wagner, the youngsters are looking forward to the race. "It is a challenging but good race at this phase of the season. With Johannes and Loe, we have two guys in the WorldTour next year. It's a perfect measuring moment for them in a peloton partly made up of World Tour teams.”
"The three of them will support Jonas. They can go for their own chance in the final time trial. I hope they will go home with a good feeling after stage four and will have learned a lot from the experienced riders in the selection.”
