Watch the CRO Race nightly on SBS On Demand. Stage 3 starts at 11.00pm AEST, the 156-kilometre stage expected to be one for the puncheurs.
Vingegaard has looked on in the opening stages of the CRO Race, but the 2022 Tour de France champion could look to make his mark on the upcoming days of competition as the hills start to come into play.
"I'm thrilled to be here and I hope I'll be in good shape in my first race after winning the Tour de France," said Vingegaard. "I'll give my best in every stage with my great team. I don't have any specific goals in this race, but I believe that I will enjoy myself.
“We are here with a strong team and it is a nice course. Unfortunately, there is no uphill finish as I would have preferred. There are enough hills and mountains to make it a great week. We are happy to be here and will contribute our very best.”
Stage 3 offers two short climbs in the final ten kilometres, a 3.4km ascent at 5.4% and a final drag to the line of 1.6km at 5.9%, sure to provoke some action amongst the punchy climbers. Geraint Thomas, fellow podium finisher at the Tour de France a few steps below Vingegaard, will head a versatile INEOS Grenadiers squad.
Stages 4 and 5 also lack decisive summit finishes, but the open terrain should lend itself to attacking racing over a classics-style 221-kilometre course for Stage 4 and a much punchier final day of action over 155 kilometres.
After the victory at the Tour, Vingegaard, a member of the Jumbo-Visma team, took a long break, opting to skip the Danmark Rundt and World Championships in favour of a more relaxed build into the end of the season. Vingegaard explained why he chose the CRO Race for his comeback.
"I needed a break after the Tour, so I took a month off and enjoyed life,” said Vingegaard. “I have been training in Spain for the last month in preparation for the end of the season. My main goal in this part of the year is Il Lombardia, and the CRO Race will serve as a great preparation for that race.
“The race configuration is very good because there are a lot of climbs, despite the fact that no stage ends with a big mountain top finish", said Vingegaard, who has been in Croatia several times before.
This summer, Vingegaard became the second Danish winner of the Tour de France in history, and upon his arrival in Copenhagen after his triumph in Paris, he was greeted by tens of thousands of fans.
"I am delighted with the number of fans who greeted me upon my return home,” said Vingegaard. “And not only by the number of people on the main square, but also by the thousands of people who followed me from the airport all the way to the city center", concluded the Dane.
“The ceremony on the square in Copenhagen was overwhelming. After that, my family and I returned to Denmark.”
Watch the CRO Race nightly on SBS On Demand. Stage 3 starts at 11.00pm AEST, the 156-kilometre stage expected to be one for the puncheurs.
