Doubts about Vingegaard's return: "We don't know when he'll be back in the race"

Rome, 28 March 2025 - After the last one, marked by the tragic fall at Tour of the Basque Country 2024, this spring too risks being anything but positive for jonas vingegaard: it's all in the middle another accident, what happened to the Paris-Nice 2025, the consequences of which risk weighing on us for some time to come. Word from the top management of the Visma-Lease a Bike.  

Latest on Vingegaard's condition

Intercepted by the journalist's microphones Daniel Benson, Grischa Niermann, sporting director of the Dutch team, admitted that on the return of their champion, who in the French race made up for a concussion and several scattered blows, there is still a lot of uncertainty. "His recovery is going well, but at this point we obviously have to draw up a new program for him, given that the initial one included Volta a Catalunya (still ongoing, ed.) and then take a long break and think about the Tour de France. We will decide in the next few days what to do and whether to add a race before the Great Boucle, which remains our main objective. There is no shortage of options and each of them will be evaluated to refine the preparation for July". In short, regardless of what happened in the past weeks, as always the season of vingegaard revolves around the Tour de France: all the more so when today we have to redeem last year's second place behind Tadej pogacar, in turn affected by the accident in the Basque Country that slowed down his preparation. This time, fortunately, the consequences for the '96 class were much less serious, but there is still uncertainty about his actual return to the race: according to Niermann. "He's already back on the bike, but today he's not in a condition to compete. We have to take the situation day by day and see how it goes. On our part - continues the German manager - there's no desire to force him to get back on the bike as soon as possible: we'll give him all the time he needs. The only things that are certain about his preparation at the moment are the two periods at altitude: one in May in Sierra Nevada and the other in June at Tignes and the latter will be faced with the entire training that will accompany it to the Tour de France". So, the same Tour of the Dauphiné 2025, in turn notoriously conducive to the Great Boucle, to date is not included in the (few) certainties available to the Visma-Lease a Bike on its most representative standard-bearer, who well before the fall of the Paris-Nice he had not denied that he still suffers from a series of consequences, especially psychological ones, due to an accident of much more serious proportions than what initially emerged in public: certainly this new blow, on the body but above all on the physique, does not help to turn the page, as can also be seen from the tact and prudence of the same Visma-Lease a Bike when there is something in between vingegaard, the central lighthouse perhaps more fragile than in the past and therefore, even more so, in need of protection.

Read also - Napoli, balance sought: the attack grows, but the defense worsens