PARIS — Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark won his first Tour de France title on Sunday after coming out on top in a thrilling three-week duel with defending champion Tadej Pogacar.
The 25-year-old Vingegaard became the first Danish rider to win cycling's biggest race since Bjarne Riis in 1996.
Vingegaard, who was runner-up to Pogacar last year, built his success in the mountains. He first took the yellow jersey from Pogacar in the Alps with a memorable ride up the Col du Granon, and followed up this week with an impressive display of strength in the last Pyrenean stage to the resort of Hautacam.
![Vingegaard celebrates his win in the men's Tour de France.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/dcaa1f0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8640x5754+0+0/resize/880x586!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2022%2F07%2F24%2Fap22205647192475_custom-902d8ec4bfa5880e3969a618b680d6b5351115a7.jpg)
Vingegaard also had the upper hand in the race against the clock, gaining more time on Pogacar in Saturday's individual time trial to effectively secure the title.
Pogacar finished runner-up overall and Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour winner, completed the podium.
Jasper Philipsen won Sunday's last stage — a mainly processional ride around Paris to the Champs-Elysees — in a sprint ahead of Dylan Groenewegen and Alexander Kristoff.
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