Cycling star Jonas Vingegaard is using the time before the turn of the year to relax with his family in his Danish homeland. Some fans were all the more amazed when the Visma captain beat Tadej Pogacar’s record time on a well-known climb in Spain on Monday. But it quickly became clear: someone had made a joke.
The Spanish Costa Blanca is an extremely popular place to stay in the cold months for many cycling professionals. In moderate temperatures, they complete their kilometers on the hilly terrain and stay in shape for the coming season.
One of the most popular points of contact is the Coll de Rates. Tadej Pogacar was also there a few days ago. The Slovenian got his climbing record back and mastered the climb on December 19th with an average speed of 32.3 km/h in just 11:57 minutes.
But on Monday the increase suddenly had a new record holder: Jonas Vingegaard. A Strava pro with his name showed a time of 11:49 minutes for the climb. An astonishing achievement, especially since the Dane wasn’t there at all.
A joke at Vingegaard’s expense
However, the mystery surrounding the new record was quickly revealed: A Strava user had apparently made a joke, created a profile with Vingegaard’s name and his official Visma team photo and drove up the climb on a scooter or a similar vehicle.
Some users became skeptical when they took a closer look at the training ride that was saved in the fake Vingegaard account. Accordingly, the Dane only drove 13 kilometers on Monday. In addition, this tour was the only one that was featured in the profile.
After closer inspection, it also emerged that Vingegaard himself does not have a Strava professional on which he records his training rides. And so the fuss surrounding his new record only lasted a few hours.