"I had blood on my face" - Jonas Vingegaard does not understand lack of concussion check during Paris-Nice

Jonas Vingegaard is currently in Sierra Nevada, training at altitude in preparation for the Tour de France. Team Visma | Lease a Bike hosted a press conference this Monday where the Dane opened up about his current situation, but also was quite critical of the organization in Paris-Nice where he crashed and suffered a concussion but was not medically examined until after the stage finished.

“We were going uphill, and one guy in front of me overlapped the wheel and went in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. We were basically just going 10-15kph. I couldn’t do anything, so I crashed straight on my face," Vingegaard said, as reported by CyclingWeekly.

“I went to the race doctor because I had some blood on my face – I was bleeding – but they never once checked me for concussion, which I find a bit odd, to be honest. It was visible that my glasses were broken, I had blood on my face, I even had a little bit of blood here on the eyebrow. For me, that was a bit odd that they didn’t check me for concussion.”

The fall led to the Dane's departure from the race and subsequent withdrawal from the Volta a Catalunya and any other possible race during the spring. He's missed out on five weeks of quality training as the consequences of the concussion proved to be quite harsh - for 10 days he did not ride a bike following the fall.

“When I had been awake for about an hour or so, I had to sleep for about an hour and a half for the first three, four days. I did have a concussion, and I was really suffering from it at the start. Every day it was getting a little bit better," he described.

“By Monday, I was thinking I could try get on the bike again, just one hour of a recovery ride, which backfired pretty much. Afterwards, I was completely dizzy and nauseous. I had to go lay down and sleep again, and then I didn’t touch my bike for the next four days.”

Vingegaard, who will now only resume racing at the Criterium du Dauphiné, was not happy with the lack of a proper check from the race's medical staff during the fall. It was apparent in the day that he was far from his best. “I think as soon as somebody has something within the shoulders and above that’s visible, and you see that they hit something there, they should check them for concussion before they let them".

“Of course, maybe the medical car was not there yet, but once I go to the medical car, they should as least check me when they can see that I hit my face.” That did not ultimately happen. His path towards the Tour de France was not heavily affected, however it did prevent him from seeking results and confidence from the spring campaign.

“I know at this moment that I’m not on my best level yet, but that’s what I’m here for. Hopefully I can be even better than I have ever been before. If I’m better than I’ve ever been before, I’m pretty sure that then I can at least fight for the victory in the Tour de France," he concluded.