How’s Vingegaard doing? Coach Visma | LaB has the answer: "Riding like a cool warrior"

Visma | Lease a Bike has been hit hard by crashes over the past year and a half. Last year, the Dutch team saw team leader Jonas Vingegaard crash hard in the Tour of the Basque Country, while Wout van Aert also crashed several times and had to give up on his big goals as a result. Yet the many crashes Vingegaard has had have no lasting consequences, according to coach Jesper Mørkøv.

A crash in April 2024 clearly affected cycling fans. Several riders, including Vingegaard, were lying on the Basque road for a long time. The Dane was transferred to a hospital in Spain, where it was still unclear whether he would make it to the Tour de France. The answer would ultimately be yes, and Vingegaard finished second, well behind the overall winner, Tadej Pogacar.

This year in Paris-Nice, it again happened to Vingegaard, as he suffered a concussion and a painful wrist in a crash. In road cycling, it is questionable to what extent crashes, which in this case have significant physical consequences, also change a cyclist mentally. "I don't really get that feeling," Mørkøv says about his leader in the Café Eddy podcast. "It's not that all our positioning work has been super good in the classics, but I feel that Jonas hasn't had much to worry about."

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Vingegaard during Paris-Nice

Vingegaard has 'the situation well under control' according to Mørkøv

Mentally, the misery of last year does not seem to have had much of an effect on the 28-year-old Vingegaard. According to Mørkøv, it may have changed something in Vingegaard. "I think he rides like a cool warrior now," the Dane says of his compatriot. The concussion he suffered in Paris-Nice is also no longer an issue. "How is he doing now? Well, he's doing well. He's doing very well. He's training and preparing and has left the crash behind him. He has the situation under control."

Whereas last year there was little preparation for the Tour, this year there will be more time for Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike. The Dane is determined to compete in the Dauphiné at the beginning of June. Mørkøv does not want to reveal what else is on his program. "We are still fine-tuning it, so we can't go into too much detail. All will be revealed soon enough."

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Vingegaard on Tour podium with Pogacar and Evenepoel

"Pogacar and Vingegaard are opposites," said Mørkøv

Unlike Pogacar, the main competitor in the Tour de France, Vingegaard will not be riding too many races. According to Mørkøv, that is not surprising. "After all, he is the opposite of Pogacar, who rides all the cycling races in the east and west. In that respect, he is somewhat the opposite. It's all about winning the Tour de France. That is the main goal."

Even though he is a competitor and an opposite pole, Mørkøv admires the Slovenian world champion. "Jonas is competing against our best cyclist since Eddy Merckx. We cannot make a wrong move if he wants to beat Pogacar in the Tour de France. We have to execute everything perfectly."

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