Vingegaard surged to victory in Primošten ahead of Oscar Onley (Team DSM) and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), the Dane moving into second overall and just one second behind race leader Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) at the halfway point with three stages to go.
The 1.6 kilometre final climb combined both gravel and cement sections with pitches of as much as 15%, but Vingegaard showed no rust with his performance as he handled it perfectly, despite admitting it was a challenge.
“It was a very bumpy road, so it was hard to stand on the pedals,” Vingegaard said following the stage.
“But the legs were good today, we worked all day for it, and I’m happy to win.”
It was clear from the lead-in to the finale that Jumbo-Visma were making the stage one for Vingegaard as they took the front of the peloton with a surging pace.
Once the bunch split on the steep gradients, the Dane followed the wheels of the other climbers, biding his time and waiting for the right moment to attack which came in the final 500 metres when he passed Milan with Onley and Mohoric following.
Vingegaard then had enough in the legs to hold off his chasers and take the win and voiced his ambitions to keep chasing success before the race is done, the next two stages very hilly affairs that he could again dominate.
“There are still many stages to come, I don’t even know if I’m in the lead,” he said after crossing the line and before finding out the general classification rankings.
“But the shape is good, I’ll keep trying. It’s also nice for me to be able to win in the last part of the season, normally haven’t been that good in the last part, so obviously I’m happy to be winning in the end.”
