"He is our most important rider" - Grischa Niermann reiterates Visma's full faith in Jonas Vingegaard's Tour de France chances
Cycling
Jonas Vingegaard heads into 2025 with a point to prove. After two years where he reigned supreme at the Tour de France, the Danish leader of Team Visma | Lease a Bike was overthrown by an unstoppable Tadej Pogacar in 2024. The question now is: Can Vingegaard close to gap to his great rival and reclaim the Maillot Jaune this summer?
According to those within the Team Visma | Lease a Bike set-up, there seems to be little doubt that Vingegaard can indeed regain his superiority over Pogacar at the 2025 Tour de France. "He is our most important rider, he has won the Tour de France twice, and it would not be good if we told him that we do not believe he can win the Tour again," says Visma's senior sports director Grischa Niermann in conversation with BT.dk. "It was especially important this year because we know that his preparations were far from optimal last year."
Speaking of those "far from optimal" preparations for the 2024 Tour de France, Vingegaard of course spent time in intensive care less than three months prior to the Grand Depart last year, following a horrific crash at the Itzulia Basque Country in April. Thanks in part to lingering effects of this crash, Vingegaard also ended his 2024 season early, giving the 28-year-old around six whole months to prepare for his 2025 kick off at the Volta ao Algarve.
"It was obvious that Jonas lacked explosiveness and sprint strength. That's exactly what he lost a lot of because of his crash," Visma's performance manager, Mathieu Heijboer says of Vingegaard's off-season work. "Rarely do you have the opportunity to really work on your weak points and other things. The biggest focus has been on getting stronger muscularly, because that's what he was missing a lot after the crash."
"Normally I'm never in the strength training centre," adds Vingegaard himself to BT. "I usually build muscle mass pretty quickly. But to try to regain some of what I lost last year, I've been doing some strength training."
Read also
What a fightback from Vingegaard 💪
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) December 10, 2024
Happy 28th birthday to Jonas Vingegaard, who looked beaten on Tour de France Stage 11 but dug deep to secure victory over Tadej Pogačar. pic.twitter.com/qbnB3CeIC5
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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