"It clearly didn’t help" - Jonas Vingegaard on Tour de France-ending crash and overnight doping test
CyclingMonday, 20 July 2026 at 10:50
Jonas Vingegaard spoke for the first time after the heavy crash that forced him out of the Tour de France 2026 during stage 15. The Dane, who suffered a broken collarbone and will undergo surgery in the coming days, said that, given the severity of the fall, he feels fortunate with the extent of his injuries and regretted ending so abruptly a race in which he was the clear favourite to finish second behind Tadej Pogacar.
The Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader acknowledged the outcome was very painful, though he chose to focus on the positives after the high-speed impact on the descent.
“Surprisingly, I feel quite good. Of course, it’s very disappointing to abandon like this and for the Tour to end this way for us, but that’s bike racing sometimes. And, luckily, it’s only a broken collarbone.”
Questions arose after the crash over whether a race motorbike might have influenced the incident. However, Vingegaard avoided blaming anyone and preferred to accept that these situations are part of cycling.
“Maybe the motorbike made a mistake, but we can’t rely on the motorcycles. We have to use our own judgment. People make mistakes and, sometimes, that’s how it is. We can’t change what happened now.”
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The overnight doping control
Another issue surrounding the crash was the anti-doping control the Dane had to undergo in the early hours. Vingegaard was woken up at 2am, and that the lack of sleep might have affected Vingegaard's concentration, Tadej Pogacar argued.
Asked directly about that possibility, Vingegaard admitted that getting so little sleep did not help, although he ruled it out as the cause of the crash.
“Clearly, it certainly didn’t help. You can say that. But whether it caused the crash, I wouldn’t dare to say. I don’t want to blame it on that, because this is cycling.”
Despite the disappointment, the Dane is already trying to focus on what comes next rather than dwelling on what happened. He revealed that his first priority after the crash was to speak with his family before discussing the situation with the team.
Vingegaard had to abandon the Tour de France 2026 after breaking his collarbone
“I just talked with my family. That was the most important thing for me. We have laid a plan for what needs to happen, and talked with the team. It is of no use to hang your head, it actually just makes it worse.”
With these remarks, the two-time Tour de France winner closes a campaign that ended in the most bitter way. Until his crash he was second in the general classification and, although Tadej Pogacar looked firmly on course for overall victory, the Dane remained the top favourite to stand on the second step of the podium in Paris and was also hunting a stage win in the final week.
Vingegaard’s goal now is to get through collarbone surgery and start his recovery as soon as possible to return to racing. His absence leaves the Tour without one of the defining riders of the past decade and brings to an end, at least for this year, the anticipated showdown with Pogacar that has shaped recent editions of the race.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- We'll never know, but what evidence?... an anonymous phone tip from some rabid Seixas fan? Certainly not a team car full of dope and paraphernalia or a bunch of used syringes in a trash bag at the race finish.mrvco21-07-2026
- True. If you going to test for doping though, between two tough mountain stages is the right time to test beacuse that is when they might need it most.
Andrew21-07-2026 - cycling has been dirty forever, really not sure why no one is giving the testers the benefit of the doubtwhkman21-07-2026
- None of us really know what goes on behind closed doors but it is very suspicious to wake these riders up the day before a big mountain stage while they are still recovering from the mountain stage the day before. I have to go to bed, it's almost 2am lolawp21-07-2026
- And you’re free to believe that as I am free not to believe it regardless of who my neighbours or work colleagues support.Andrew21-07-2026
- And you know that how? Did Pog call you, message you?Andrew21-07-2026
- being reported that as many as 8 teams were tested at late hours and from Benjamin Cohen, head of ITA in April: “I don’t think you would want to do mass testing at the Tour de France, for example, and wake up all the athletes at 3am — that doesn’t make sense. I think you would need to have very concrete suspicions (about an athlete) and use that in a very cautious manner. “I wouldn’t advocate for mass night testing, but certainly for some flexibility if you believe that there is an issue.” so really doesn't seem like he's crazy about testing and thinks they should need evidence for late night testing. and here we are, they went to a judge and got the ok so I think they have credible evidencewhkman21-07-2026
- "a bit much" is an understatement.whkman21-07-2026
- UAE will suffocate Remco in the big mountains !frieders321-07-2026
- the ita obviously only had evidence on the riders that were tested and took it to the judge and the judge ok'd the 2am and 5am tests. maybe seixas is doped up who knows? but they didn't have any evidence on him to bring to a judge. anyone who thinks the French are biased has forgotten Festina.whkman21-07-2026
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