"I was more exhausted than I have ever been before" - Jonas Vingegaard explains how 2024 Tour de France efforts 'devastated' him physically

Few expected Jonas Vingegaard to challenge for the Maillot Jaune following his horror crash at the Itzulia Basque Country earlier this year. Courageously though, the Dane pushed Tadej Pogacar at the 2024 Tour de France, digging deeper into his reserves than he ever had done before.

Although post-Tour de France, Vingegaard raced the Classica San Sebastian and the Tour de Pologne, the lack of action from the Dane did lead to criticism from some. As explained by the man himself though, he quite simply had emptied the tank at the Tour de France, and with the birth of his second child imminent chose to rest up and recover completely, at home with the family.

"I was more exhausted than I have ever been before after this Tour de France," explains Vingegaard in quotes collected by Ekstra Bladet. "It also meant that I had to take more of a break. At first I didn't allow myself to take a break because I had to ride the Tour de Pologne, but then I took it. I had to do that too. I could feel that after the Tour I was riding a lot on the pumps. It was the very last thing I had in me."

"I needed a break. At that time, I tried to continue and race in Poland as well. It went well, but I was far from my normal level there," he continues. "I had a bit of a down period because I was so tired and exhausted. I had spent so much energy getting ready for the Tour, so it's normal for there to be a period afterwards when I'm completely exhausted and devastated."

The World Championships were again absent from Vingegaard's calendar in 2024, with rival Pogacar completing a historic victory in Zurich. "I've really just taken it nice and easy. I've needed that break. In relation to the World Championships, it wasn't because I went on maternity leave. It was because I was so exhausted after the season I've had," the Dane concludes.