CyclingUpToDate Podcast - "Could you imagine the complete chaos in Visma if both Simon Yates and Jonas Vingegaard retired in the same season?"
Cycling
On the Tour de France's first rest day, Jonas Vingegaard was the protagonist of an explosive interview where he revealed that last winter he was close to leaving Team Visma | Lease a Bike, or even cycling as a whole. In today's episode of the CyclingUpToDate Podcast, Rúben Silva and Gavin Quinn commented on the surprising statements.
Was Jonas Vingegaard's change of plans the right one?
It seemed to come from nowhere, but this Monday morning Jonas Vingegaard revealed that his cycling career almost came to an end this past winter. “I said last year that if this was how it was going to be, I couldn’t be in it anymore,” Vingegaard told Danish broadcaster TV2. “That’s also why we changed some things. I also think the team realised that this was how it was, and they could also tell from me that I wasn't happy last year. They accepted that we had to change something, and we did.”
The Dane has had virtually the same run-up to the Tour de France since 2021 and had reported staleness, specially as in the past two Tours he wasn't able to properly challenge Tadej Pogacar in the high mountains. In the backdrop of a third potential year in the same situation, the Dane had issues with the proposed idea for his season.
Instead, the decision was made to race the Giro d'Italia, which he won after also capturing the overall classification of both Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya. The leader of Visma arrived at the Tour de France without the pressure of previous years, having completed the Grand Tour hattrick a month prior.
"We know Jonas is a big family man and he does like to spend some time with his family when possible. He likes to avoid maybe long stints at altitude or specific long race blocks," Gavin Quinn argued. "We have seen a different season from him this year, which shows that kind of backs what he's just said today in that he sat down and he agreed with the team that we need to do something different".
Thus far at the Tour Vingegaard has looked a step below the World Champion, however above the rest of the competition - thus maintaining his status. Mentally however, this year has been much better for the two-time Tour winner.
"Jonas Vingegaard in 2026 has seen an awful lot of difference, which is, you know: We've seen him with a new coach, We've seen him go to the Giro d'Italia for the first time and pretty successfully so - five stage wins and a GC win to set up a Tour. We've never seen him do the Giro before a Tour".
"We've seen him obviously do a Tour and then La Vuelta, but that that's a different kind of prospect to doing a Giro-Tour double. And it's definitely paid dividends, there's nothing you can do about the level of Pogacar and level of your rivals, ut I think we've seen probably the best Jonas Vingegaard we've seen since 2023".
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Vingegaard's interview brings back flashes of Simon Yates
Rúben Silva was quite surprised to see the Dane's statements, specially as somehow that situation remained completely absent from the public eye. "It's incredible to read this, read his words and think 'oh, who would have guessed that in October Vingegaard was almost retiring or almost leaving Visma'. And we did not know about that".
"It's a good job from them because these are matters that you should keep private and you should, if this escaped the bubble so to say, and you have the media commenting since October and November if 'he's going to end his career', 'he's going to leave Visma'... The pressure would have been insane".
The physical and mental toll of being a professional cyclist is extremely high and the riders at the top don't escape the burden. In the past, it has often been reported that there was a need for balance in Vingegaard's life between work and family.
But Vingegaard, as a rider who is an absolute leader at Visma, had the leverage to convince the team into making the necessary changes for him.
But this case and its timing brings back memories of a similar case, albeit one that had a different outcome.
Simon Yates retired from pro cycling at the start of 2026, and Jonas Vingegaard wasn't far from it either
"And also then with Simon Yates retiring, you would start to question Visma and their doings and the team had the potential to start going down the road" Rúben Silva. "Could you imagine the complete chaos in Visma if both Simon Yates and Jonas Vingegaard retired in the same season? That would have been brutal".
The Briton had a sudden retirement at the beginning of January, after his schedule had been made and the overall plan of Visma for the season had been agreed on.
In the past, several riders who have departed Visma questioned the strictness of their schedules, both racing and training, and the occasional lack of flexibility from the management. Whilst some riders thrive in the position, others couldn't get the best out of their legs.
But Visma was on the verge of an absolute catastrophe with their two Grand Tour winners (of 2025) retiring at the same time. "And that, that would have raised questions. They would have been valid. People already raised questions over Simon Yates' departure and if they saw Vingegaard doing that, they saw both Yates and Vingegaard doing that at the same time, that would have been crazy".
The retirement of the former Giro and Vuelta winner brought back concerns of the team's relationship with its riders; and interestingly, it may provide insight into the different response that the two riders might have faced when sharing their concerns.
"It's interesting because it also raises the question: Like when Simon Yates raised the same questions, but they weren't flexible with him; and whilst with Vingegaard it worked out, they changed for him because it's more important. Maybe with Yates, they weren't flexible. They didn't want to change and Yates, well, 'then I am going to go'."
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- As far as points go they need to take a page or ten out of the Astana playbook!Lozza13-11-2026
- Ah, seems he’s been busy elsewhere! 😆Lozza13-11-2026
- Where is he when you need him!? Wake up man! You’re missing an opportunity!Lozza13-11-2026
- A very true statement made by Johan Bruyneel: "We don’t know for sure about Jonas, because he dropped out of the Tour de France, but he would never have come close to Pogacar. Maybe he would have finished second. He won the Giro in dominant fashion and the Vuelta the year before, but Visma wants to win the Tour." That's exactly what I've been saying the last six months. If Pogi races with Jonas, the most he can be is second... UNLESS... Pogi crashes out or makes a BIG mistake, which is not likely to happen. Either Bruyneel thinks the way I do or he reads my posts. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans13-11-2026
- TADEJ POGAČAR !!! "Anatomy of a G.O.A.T." OK, that's great!!! I've been saying all along: Tadej Pogačar-Pogi is the G.O.A.T... period. Not only in cycling... but he's the greatest sportsman that ever lived !!! But let's take a look of what real foolishness looks like: We have many many fools, also on this site, saying that Pogi is "boring,"... he's making cycling "boring"??? I can't believe what's comming out of their deteriorating smelly mouths. So I guess Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Fasto Coppi and Anquetil were also boring!?!? I guess Michael Jordan, Le Bron, Gretzky, Messi, Ronaldo, Shumacher, Novak Džoković, Federer, Rossi, Marquez, Phelps, Michaela Shiffrin, Venus Williams, Bolt, Lewis Hamilton... etc. were all boring. PS: Many cycling "fans" that think that way, have to get a brain scan. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans13-11-2026
- Ayuso has had enough time. He's always going to be a mediocre to good cyclist... nothing special or astonishing. But he does have many excuses, just like Remco, but Remco delivers good wins on occasions, Ayuso doesn't. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans13-11-2026
- I agree, Johan Bruyneel made big mistakes, he was involved in the biggest doping scandal in the history of sports... BUT NEVERTHELESS... Bruyneels analysis on bike racing and cyclists is among the best. That's a fact... period!!! I love listening to Spencer Martin and Johan on WEDU-THE MOVE PODCAST, but I don't care about Armstrong and Hincapie. They are both american bull shi***s who like to exaggerate and talk nonsense.PogiSloFans13-11-2026
- the headline is poorly written too. it makes it sound like their plan is to simply wait until he stops.mij13-11-2026
- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
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