"I hate that he is not here" - Danish teammate laments Jonas Vingegaard's absence from World Championships

Cycling
Friday, 27 September 2024 at 10:07
jonasvingegaard
Mattias Skjelmose has recently crashed at the Tour de Luxembourg and has had his World Championships at risk. Ultimately however the Lidl-Trek will be taking part in the Zurich race this Sunday where he will be one of the leaders of the Danish team - but he rues the absence of Jonas Vingegaard who could have a lot to add on such a tough course.
"I would have loved to ride on one World Championship team with Jonas, but I hate that he is not here. But I understand his choice, and it is what it is. Let's hope we can race together soon," Skjelmose told In de Leiderstrui. Alongside Mads Pedersen and Magnus Cort Nielsen there will be cards for the Danes to play, although it definitely isn't assured that Skjelmose himself will arrive in the best form.
"I think I came out of the Vuelta well. I've had some time off the bike and enjoyed some relaxed time with family and my girlfriend. I feel good now, although my performance in the Vuelta has yet to be processed," he admits. "That will probably only happen after this season; my focus is still too much on the World Championship. The most important thing is the best possible preparation for Zurich, to find top form". With Vingegaard, they would have had another card to play with Vingegaard who would likely be able to cover big attacks on the climbs; the team will have to opt for other tactics. 
"I think it's cool to race with Van der Poel in Luxembourg, but we have to be careful not to make idols of our colleagues in the peloton," Skjelmose when asked about Mathieu van der Poel who will be one of the most dangerous riders in the peloton.
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maria20242024 01 October 2024 at 14:50+ 1154

Jonas never takes risks in races NOT 100% SUITABLE for him, under this standpoint, he is a little coward: never try new challenges because he is afraid of losing.

KAT14sc09 01 October 2024 at 17:58+ 667

Maria, I think coward is not the best way to describe Jonas. All pro riders are very brave just to do what they do week in week out. Maybe 'he tends to play it a little bit safe' might be more kind to him.

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maria20242024 01 October 2024 at 18:30+ 1154

you're right, sorry, I'm Italian, I don't master the subtlety of English words. Sorry again.

Mistermaumau 01 October 2024 at 18:17+ 4087

And considering the way cycling has gone this year safety wise, you could start asking whether maybe he’s right?

When so much rides on one or two races for some, should you really be playing around in less important races with all the risks (including financial at several levels) involved?

Tadej so far can be considered lucky (though obviously he removes a lot of safety risks going solo so often), one day that may change for him though, not many go through a whole career without one performance altering crash.

KAT14sc09 01 October 2024 at 19:14+ 667

That's fine Maria, I know your comment was out of character because your posts are usually some of the nicer ones. We all post things we regret now and again!

mij 01 October 2024 at 19:22+ 1035

if he is absent due to recovery, I completely understand. he needs to recover.

if he is absent to be home, sorry, I don't get it. I have 3 kids. they are grown and in college. they are not paying for their college, I am. we have an amazing home in CA, we can see the ocean, they have cars, and a super life. they have all traveled the world, skied in the best locations.

I have to pay for all of this. their Mom stays home. we are blessed that I own a business and have the talents to make this happen. I don't make anywhere near $4.4 million like Jonas, but I do ok. Would I love to be around more? sure. would my kids love it? sure. I don't want to hear about the travails of a pro cyclist - in the early part of my career I traveled globally, over 150k miles per year. I was in high risk countries, and gone quite a bit.

but it was all worth it for my family.

AND - to read this article - I did it for a team that depended on me so THEY could all win too. They had families, they had goals, and they needed me to help them win. so yes obligation # 1 was my family, which required me to be gone. obligation # 2 was to my team.

great for Jonas to stay home, he is blessed to make so much money and have an employer that does not require his presence when the bell rings. but, 99% of us have to work every day and can't stay home because we want to. injury recovery being an exception. I don't begrudge him, but I don't understand this mentality.

maaiikeen 01 October 2024 at 17:24+ 453

You did it for your family, yes. Jonas already is being paid a lot, and has the privilege to be home with his family. You are also not the same person. One person's priorities does not have to resemble another's.

He ended his season early as a combination of needing to recover and being with his newborn son and family. His DS said that Jonas was still exhausted during the Tour of Poland, and that even if Jonas had gone to the WC, he would not be able to be in the form we saw during the TdF. He would not be able to win, and someone like Jonas does not go to be a domestique especially not with a newborn at home.

mij 01 October 2024 at 19:22+ 1035

as I said, if he is home to recover, that makes total sense. he had a grueling injury and shouldn't be forced back to work too soon.

first of all, you don't know me. because my kids are a priority I have to work hard. I've been married for 21 years, I have 3 kids that are great, and I talk to them daily and have coached their sports teams, went to their school conferences, and will go to their parent and family weekends in college. etc. so I understand the priority of kids. I live for my kids.

I'm commenting that it must be really nice to get paid to do something, and then chose not to do it to be home with family, IF that is why he is home. IF in caps, because maybe it is recovery exclusively.

but frankly it is an insult to his team, his fans, and his employer if he is home just to spend more time with the kids. we would all love to do that, but there is something in life called responsibility.

look at what Tadej said when he was asked about the "pressure" of riding a bike. he said "what pressure, pressure is working in a factory. I ride a bike, it is fun". watch The Last Dance about Michael Jordan, and his work ethic. he knew he was an entertainer, as these guys are - the world does not need these races like it needs doctors, teachers, etc - so Jordan, out of respect to his fans - NEVER took an night off. he worked harder than anyone out of respect of the talent he was given so as to not to squander it, and out of respect to his team, and out of respect to his fans. because he never wanted to let them down. if I was a Jonas fan, teammate, or employer - I'd feel let down.

and newsflash - his kids won't know he is there with them LOL. what a joke. must be nice to get paid $4.4 million and decide to be home with family. any real job and he would be told to stay there if he doesn't want to return after his allotted time off.

Mistermaumau 01 October 2024 at 16:30+ 4087

You seem to know an awful lot about what his job description is. As for fans, I don.t think he ever actually asked or forced anyone to be one, and may I remind you that cycling is still one of those very rare activities that fans can enjoy for FREE, yes, right, they pay him NOTHING so don’t compare his obligations to those of golf, tennis, football, F1 or most other sports that rip fans off by often charging them hundreds if not thousands to see their hero from pretty far away.

frieders3 27 September 2024 at 06:51+ 1395

Exactly what I've been saying...you get paid to ride your bike. You can suck it up and support another rider like you did (?) for Sepp last year in the Vuelta. You've had plenty of family time...more than most of us people working get from our jobs.

mij 01 October 2024 at 19:22+ 1035

thank you - see my comments above. in a perfect world it would be like kindergarten and we would get nap time daily and be coddled. I don't get this mentality.

think of his teammates - if one of them win a WC because he does some extra pulls, he supported that teammates future, the teammates family's future, the future of cycling for his country.

I want to stay home for my family is selfish and is afforded to him only because he makes $4.4 million. Take a few zeros off that and he would know what real life is like. the guys in his old fish factory I'm sure would love to take his time off, but of course they can't. and I'm guessing most wouldn't out of sense of responsibility and because they're professionals.

DavidL 01 October 2024 at 16:42+ 8

Okay, first of all, Jonas lives in Denmark. He doesn’t have to pay for his kids to go to college, so the talk about his wages and taking care of his family is not relevant. Please don’t compare US to Denmark. You don’t need to have wealthy parents to get an education here.
Second, not going to the WC isn’t equal to not working! You can’t compare a regular job to a pro bike rider. His job is also to recover well, and I’m 100% positive that he is doing a lot of training at home.

mij 01 October 2024 at 19:22+ 1035

his job is to race bikes and win those races.

and irrefutably he is letting his team down, hence the title of the article.

and as a fan, I'm let down by him not being there.

so, I stand by what I say. as for comparing the USA to Denmark, he may not need the money for college, but he is paid to win bike races. Mathieu van der Poel, Nov 27, 2018, and I quote "My sponsors pay me to win". Jonas is the leader, he is paid to win. he is not paid to train. he is not paid to sit home. yes, he has won massive races, and that is what he is paid for. go race some more, like the WC. IF he is healthy, but as I've said repeatedly, if he is home only for recovery, I get that.

Mistermaumau 01 October 2024 at 16:45+ 4087

Some fan you are!

How about not distorting known facts, If you’re going to quote MVDP from 2018?

Firstly, he was not even road racing then secondly he has his own sponsor as well as do some others which are not the same as team sponsors! Sponsors are free to sue if they feel there is breach of contract and so are employers if employees don’t show up for work.

Something tells me you know very little of the actual situation but are conjecturing a lot for no useful reason which reveals an emotional trauma, it maybe jealousy, a bet lost or a need for others to entertain you (is a race without Jonas really so boring?) but you also forget that there is change at Visma regarding sponsors at the moment and we are basically at the end of season.

Training (among many things) is a part of winning so part of the job and taking your definition it would seem logical that most riders shouldn’t get paid at all anymore or take VERY deep paycuts, and who is going to put a fair price on each win?

Spectators don’t pay to watch cycling’ fans don’t get the same moaning rights as when they pay hundreds, sometimes thousands to go watch other sports, THAT is being ripped off by your heros!

Enjoy your retirement, you’ve deserved it, don’t be bitter about other’s, it’ll ruin yours.

For all you know, he may be on sabbatical or have agreed to a pay cut, there seems to be no complaining coming from team or sponsors and as you should well know as a cycling fan, rider schedules are not made unilaterally, there will have been discussion about this, and obviously agreement.

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