"For somebody with a history like Jonas? There could be more impact" - Jonas Vingegaard's coach speaks out on talk the Dane is mentally scarred by past crashes

Jonas Vingegaard has long been a rider almost solely focused on peaking for the Tour de France. Over the last couple of years though, the Dane's appearances in other races have seemingly been growing even rarer, leading some to suggest that past crashes have mentally scarred the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader. Now, Vingegaard's trusted coach Tim Heemskerk has addressed these rumours.

“Fear was the reason Vingegaard didn’t go to the Itzulia Basque Country," claimed ex-pro turned Eurosport pundit Bobbie Traksel on a recent episode of the broadcasters Kop over Kop podcast. "If you have a few riders in the team with fear like that, it only grows bigger.”

“It’s difficult to say what effect these crashes have had on Jonas. But I think any rider who has children is considering what risks they take in a race," Heemskerk has now responded in conversation with Velo, admitting the possibility of mental scarring had crossed his mind. “Cycling is more and more hectic and dangerous. Maybe there is a difference in the split-second decisions of riders who have family at home compared to riders with no children. And for somebody with a history like Jonas? There could be more impact.”

In 2024, a horror crash at the Itzulia Basque Country saw Vingegaard hospitalised and in intensive care. Whilst the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader did return for the Tour de France, finishing 2nd behind Tadej Pogacar, the Dane raced just two more races before ending his season prematurely.

In 2025, the 28-year-old's appearances have been similarly scarce. After winning the Volta ao Algarve, Vingegaard crashed out of Paris-Nice, and is now seemingly only going to ride the Critierium du Dauphine before the Tour de France later this summer. “I’m not saying all this has influenced Jonas,” says Heemskerk. “It’s different for everyone.”

“When I saw him at the Tour de France after the crash he had last April, I didn’t think he had any issues. I think it was mentally super strong that he was able to race like that already after such a bad crash,” continued Vingegaard's coach, confident a lack of racing won't hinder his rider's Tour de France ambitions. “We see many riders race really well with just training preparation. We saw that with Jonas last year. He didn’t race at all before the Tour. But we know there are things like peloton skills that you cannot mimic in training. Both are important."

“Every rider is different,” Heemskerk concludes. “One rider maybe needs more peloton skills than another to feel at ease in racing.”