“I still have 60 race days… I’d love to win one-day races like Tadej, but right now it’s not possible” – Jonas Vingegaard hits back at criticism of four-race 2026 calendar

Jonas Vingegaard has heard the criticism. Too few races. Too little visibility. Too much focus on just two Grand Tours.

His response is simple: the calendar may look light on paper, but the workload is not.

Speaking in a recent interview with Wielerflits, the Dane pushed back firmly against the idea that his 2026 programme is some kind of retreat from competition. “I will still have around 60 race days,” he said, pointing out that racing fewer events does not mean racing less.

The structure of his season is built around one overriding target. Winning the Tour de France again. And in 2026, that ambition now runs through Italy as well.

Vingegaard’s confirmed programme lists just four race blocks: UAE Tour, Volta a Catalunya, Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, with his post-Tour schedule to be decided later.

That has drawn comment from fans and pundits who want to see the sport’s biggest names racing each other more often. Vingegaard understands that view, but says performance has to come first. “If you do too much in the spring, you pay for it in the Tour,” he explained. With a Giro-Tour double now part of his plan, he says a lighter early season is not optional but necessary if he wants to fight for yellow in July.

That logic has shaped everything about 2026. His Giro debut is not a side project. It is part of his Tour build-up, a different route to the same goal.

Another part of the debate is about what Vingegaard does not ride.

While Tadej Pogacar races deep into the one-day calendar and targets Monuments, Vingegaard stays away. He does not hide from that contrast. “I’d love to win one-day races like Tadej, but right now it’s not possible,” he admitted. He said he has not yet found the right way to prepare for those races, even though he enjoys watching them and respects Pogacar’s approach.

For Vingegaard, that is not a philosophical choice. It is a practical one. He says the level in modern cycling is so high that “you really need to prepare 100 percent for every race,” and spreading focus too widely risks weakening the one objective that defines his season.

The interview also touched on a wider issue inside the peloton.

Reflecting on recent retirements and talk of burnout, Vingegaard acknowledged the mental and physical weight of elite cycling. “At times it’s too hard,” he said, adding that the constant travel and pressure can become overwhelming.

He suggested the sport might need to think more individually, because riders respond differently to life on the road. “Some guys are okay with being away a lot, for others it’s very hard,” he said.

That thinking also feeds into his own calendar choices. The aim is not to race less, but to race in a way that still allows him to perform when it matters most.

In 2026, Vingegaard will chase something he has never done before: victory at the Giro d’Italia.

That goal has its own meaning. It would give him wins in all three Grand Tours. But inside his camp, the Giro is also seen as part of his Tour preparation, not a replacement for it.

Vingegaard himself made that clear when discussing why his spring has to be lighter. Combining Giro and Tour means every decision before May carries more weight than ever. After the Tour, he says his season will be reassessed. “After the Tour, we’ll see how I feel and then decide if the season is done or if we plan some more races.”

So the calendar may look short, but it is not casual. It is calculated.

Four race blocks. Around 60 race days. One central ambition.

Vingegaard is not stepping back from competition. He is betting that doing less, more precisely, is the only way to beat the very riders he is being compared with.