Finally Jonas Vingegaard is serene and smiling and has left behind the racing days, when tensions were high. The Dane has won his first Paris-Nice and for his Visma-Lease a Bike this is the third consecutive victory in the French stage race. Vingegaard had already claimed two stages, but yesterday his desire was to win again and take home his third personal success in the first stage race of the season. 

In Nice the victory could have come with a two-man sprint against Lenny Martinez: we saw the Dane stretched in the sprint effort, but the Frenchman was faster. Jonas Vingegaard has also beaten Pogacar in sprints during Tour stages, he likes to go for victory when there are no dangers.

In Nice, wearing the yellow leader's jersey, he wanted the hat-trick to seal the week of his return to top level that befits him, but Lenny Martinez caught him right on the finish line. "It was an almost perfect day, we had a lot of fun - explains the 29-year-old Danish champion of Visma-Lease a Bike - We raced at full speed all day and finally I managed to win Paris-Nice. It was a hard race for me, but I'm extremely happy to be here in the yellow jersey. Of course I would have liked to win my third stage as well, but Lenny was very strong, he deserved it".

Jonas conquered three out of four classifications: he also won the points and mountains jerseys. And then significant gaps in the overall standings: Colombian Dani Martinez (Red Bull-Bora) is second at 4'23", German Georg Steinhauser (EF) third at 6'07".

Apart from the two Tours de France and the Vuelta, Paris-Nice joins his collection of week-long races like Tirreno-Adriatico, Dauphiné, Basque Country, Poland and Algarve, all won from 2023 onwards. "Winning Paris-Nice means a lot to me, it was always the race that I just couldn't do well - Vingegaard continues, with 45 career victories - Now I've finally managed it and that makes me extremely happy. It's a good start to the year and it's something I'm really proud of".

Vingegaard will return to racing at the Volta a Catalunya from March 23rd and then we'll see him at the Giro d'Italia: it will be his debut in the pink race. The dominance in the Race to the Sun is a message for Pogacar ahead of the Tour de France? "No, I only think about racing, I try to win the races I do, and this was my first of the year. I'm extremely happy with how it went. I think my form is definitely very good, but I can still improve".