While Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has been storming snowy mountains at the Giro d'Italia to all but confirm overall victory barring incident or injury in the final week, rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) was spotted in sunny Mallorca, taking another step in his recovery from the horror Itzulia Basque Country crash which derailed his season.
Vingegaard was photographed twice on the social media of Ca'n Topa, a café at the top of the Coll de Sóller climb on the Spanish island, quite the contrast from the flat ground of his home Glyngøre in Denmark where he had returned to riding outdoors early this month.
“It was great to see cycling royalty Jonas Vingegaard training on the Coll de Soller today and stopping to say hello to his fans!” read the cafe’s Instagram post. “Wonderful to see him back on his bike and looking super fit!”
The two-time Two de France winner broke his collarbone, ribs and suffered a collapsed lung in the high-speed crash in April which also left Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) injured, hampering his preparation for the Tour where he was aiming for his third consecutive title.
It is yet to be seen whether Vingegaard will be back at 100% fitness before the Grand Depart on June 29, with sports director Merijn Zeeman stating previously that he won’t ride the Tour unless he is back to his absolute top level.
Despite returning to the climbs marking another move in the right direction, Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed to Cyclingnews that still no decision has been made on Vingegaard’s future programme and that better weather was key to the change of training location.
This step upwards from the easier terrain, however, was the next part of the plan according to his coach, Tim Heemskerk as told to L’Equipe and Cycling Weekly last week, and although he echoed Zeeman’s remarks that the Dane had to be at 100% to start the Tour, he and Vingegaard are both optimistic.
“If he progresses well within two weeks, he will have to resume the climbs. We have an altitude camp before the Tour and I hope he can pay us a little visit and do his own training camp,” Heemskerk said to L’Equipe.
“I've been working with Jonas for six years, I know what works and doesn't work with him, I especially know what we were doing with all this preparation...
“We will try every day to achieve this [reaching 100%]. He is a two-time Tour winner, these people are special. So Jonas is optimistic, I'm optimistic, and we can't wait for what's next.”
Most of Visma’s planned Tour de France squad are currently at altitude in Sierra Nevada preparing for the Critérium du Dauphiné, the pre-Tour stage race won by Vingegaard in 2023.
The group includes Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss, Steven Kruijswijk, Dylan van Baarle and Tiesj Bennot, the five men provisionally down to race the Dauphiné. After that race, they will head to a favoured training location of the Dutch squad, Tignes, in the French Alps.
Vingegaard could head to the Tignes camp if his condition improves enough but an appearance in Sierra Nevada and at the Dauphiné has already been ruled out by his team with lots of work still to be done in terms of muscle gain and ensuring his condition doesn’t worsen.
“In the hospital, lying down for two weeks, you lose muscle and flexibility. But world-class athletes like him recover quickly,” said Heemskerk.
“We try to increase his endurance by adding hours, intensity, but we know that he cannot last five hours, so we do it in several sessions.
“I take it day by day. His bones, his lungs, his skin are healing, and it costs him energy and sometimes makes him suffer.”
Heemskerk carries out a reported set of checks before Vingegaard heads out on the roads, where he was spotted on video in recent weeks by Danish TV in Glyngøre. The Dutch coach was grateful for each extra kilometre and set of ten minutes he could train with the Tour now less than six weeks away.
Should Vingegaard be present at the Grand Depart in Florence on June 29, it would grant the Tour the four-way battle that was signalled at the start of the season between two-time winner Pogačar, two-time winner Vingegaard, former runner-up Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) and debutant Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).
