Vingegaard compares his racing style to Pogacar's in conversation with De Cauwer: "That does bother me a little"

It's been almost a year, but cycling fans won’t soon forget April 4, 2024. On that day, the cycling world was shaken by a massive crash in the Tour of the Basque Country. Many riders were badly injured, including Jonas Vingegaard. In a conversation with former Belgian pro José De Cauwer, the Dane racing for Visma | Lease a Bike reflects on that crash and the ongoing debate about safety in cycling.

"Very serious," the two-time Tour winner tells Het Nieuwsblad when De Cauwer asks him about the extent of the safety problem. "Just look at me. I could have died last year (in the Tour of the Basque Country, ed.)." Finding solutions, however, that's tough. "Something to think about. In general, I’d say that everyone in cycling needs to recognize the severity of the safety issue. That’s still not the case enough. And everyone has a responsibility: the riders themselves, the organizers, and the UCI."

Vingegaard points to that horrific crash — in which Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic were also involved — as an example of how this responsibility lies with multiple people and organizations. "The organizers made a mistake by sending us down a road with tree roots running underneath, but we riders are also fighting and racing at moments when it’s not even necessary. You could see the same thing in the Tour of the Algarve: sometimes, we battle for position heading into a meaningless corner. Sometimes there's too little respect," the Dane says critically about his fellow riders.

The heavy crash of his teammate Wout van Aert in Dwars Door Vlaanderen 2024, according to Vingegaard, is another clear example of his point. "You can say the same about that crash: do you really need to fight that hard at that point? Too many riders race as if their bikes don’t have brakes." The problem is so serious that the Visma | Lease a Bike star has made a firm decision about his own children. "If my daughter or son asks if they can race, the answer is ‘no’. The way the sport is now… it’s just too dangerous."

Read more below the photo!

Vingegaard after his crash in the Tour of the Basque Country

Do riders race more calculated these days? "I understand it looks that way," said Vingegaard

Enough talk about crashes for now. De Cauwer was also curious about how the availability of all kinds of data — especially during races — affects a rider. In the past, cyclists primarily relied on heart rate monitors, but now they have access to a wealth of information on their bike computers. Does this knowledge of maximum power outputs, for example, create 'mental limits' for riders? "It can," Vingegaard admits. "But mainly in a negative way, to put it like that: if your legs hurt and you’re not hitting your watts, you can indeed mentally shut down."

Many riders appear calculated when they race with their eyes glued to their bike computers. Yet, Vingegaard argues that modern cycling in 2025 isn’t as calculated as people think. "It’s a misconception that in time trials, we write down numbers beforehand that we will or won’t hit. People sometimes think we’re robots, but even in a time trial, intuition plays a role."

Perhaps the least calculated-looking rider of all is Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian, Vingegaard’s biggest rival in recent editions of the Tour de France, seems to pay little attention to wattages and other data during races. "Tadej has his style, and I have mine," Vingegaard acknowledges the difference. "But it does bother me a little when we get labeled as ‘calculated’. I understand why it looks that way in the Tour, and we always say ‘we have a plan.’ But sometimes, we really do act on instinct," the Danish star concludes.

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