INEOS staff member on Jonas Vingegaard and Visma's potential bluff: "His injury may not have been as bad as it was initially portrayed"

Jonas Vingegaard suffered a fractured collarbone, ribs and a punctured lung at Itzulia Basque Country. For the months that followed, Team Visma | Lease a Bike constantly kept the idea of uncertainty in Jonas Vingegaard because of the non-ideal preparation, but a Slovenian staff member of INEOS Grenadiers argues that the team knew he was in great form before the Tour and may have played up how much the crash would affect his Tour de France.

There is a point to be told here, as within Visma it was repeatedly said, even well into June, that Vingegaard's presence in the race was not assured and wouldn't happen unless he was in his best form - which looked unlikely, because of the injuries and small amount of high-intensity training he had. Just days before the race, even teammate Tiesj Benoot said that "I am one hundred percent sure that no-one from the team dares to bet money on the fact that Jonas will make it to the podium". It was hard to distinguish what could or not be a bluff, but the Belgian promised his words were sincere.

However the truth is Vingegaard entered the race in absolute flying form. He matched Tadej Pogacar's attack on stage 2 up the Madonna di San Luca, beating the climb's former record by a long way and with no doubts showing peak form. "His injury may not have been as bad as it was initially portrayed after the Basque Country," Marko Dzalo, soigneur and therapist at INEOS Grenadiers, said in an interview with RTV SLO.

"Everything was quiet for two months. Now we see why. Jonas is quite fit, he is in good shape. I learned from sources within the team that the training numbers showed that he is in even better shape than last year," he said. Dzalo argues that he knew there was a high probability that Visma was playing a big bluff ahead of the Tour so as to put as much pressure on UAE Team Emirates as possible, even if Vingegaard's injuries really did threaten his career. After 13 days of racing, the Slovenian did win over a minute, but by no means does it place him as the man to beat in this Grand Boucle as we enter the Pyrenees this afternoon.

For the rest, Dzalo focuses on supporting the British team as best as possible, as part of it's staff. He details in the interview much of what he does throughout the race as a sogineur. "It sounds like the caretaker of a cottage, but we are far from that," he jokes. "We take care of everything, from food to drinks, massages, wash their clothes, clean cars, even change mattresses and pillows". Throughot the race, and specially for such a high budget team, it is imperative for INEOS to have control of their riders' well-being and health as best as possible throughout the three weeks.

"At the moment there are 32 of us. Plus eight cyclists. At the start of the race, as usual, the staff who take care of the VIP-sponsors come, so the number goes up by another six or seven people. Our owner is also the owner of the football club from Nice and has our offices, so we expect about fifteen more staff members at the finish (which will take place in the city of Nice, ed.).