“It would be a disadvantage having that anchor” – Michael Rasmussen warns Denmark against selecting Jonas Vingegaard for the Montreal World Championships
CyclingMonday, 10 August 2026 at 18:15
Michael Rasmussen believes Denmark should leave Jonas Vingegaard out of their World Championships team if the four-time Grand Tour winner cannot return close to his best before Montreal.
Vingegaard has not raced since fracturing his collarbone on stage 15 of the Tour de France, with surgery leaving his autumn programme unresolved. The September 27 road race remains a possible comeback target, but neither the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader nor Denmark have committed to it.
Mads Pedersen has openly called for his compatriot to join him in Canada, telling Vingegaard that his collarbone will be healed “by the time we race the Worlds”. National coach Michael Morkov has also previously spoken positively about having Vingegaard available, provided his recovery goes to plan.
Rasmussen expects a different outcome. The former Tour de France contender doubts Vingegaard will race again this year and has even suggested his absence could stretch through the winter to Paris-Nice in 2027.
“It would be a disadvantage having that anchor”
Rasmussen’s concern goes beyond whether Vingegaard can recover quickly enough to make the start line. He believes Denmark risk committing resources and expectations to a rider who may not be capable of influencing the race.
“I actually think so,” Rasmussen told Viaplay Sport News when asked whether taking an underprepared Vingegaard could become a disadvantage. “It would create unnecessary expectations that I do not think he would be capable of living up to.”
He then pointed back to Vingegaard’s difficult appearance at the 2025 European Championships. The Dane was dropped early on the climbing course and abandoned long before the finish.
“If he rides the way he did at the Tour, then yes, he can make a difference,” Rasmussen said. “But if he rides the way he did at the European Championships last year, then it is completely irrelevant. In that case, it would be a disadvantage having that anchor around, with huge amounts of energy being spent on him.”
Vingegaard’s condition at the Tour of Denmark did little to change Rasmussen’s mind. “You could see with the naked eye that he had put on two or three kilos at the Tour of Denmark, and he is supposed to go up against Pogacar and all the others,” he said. “Things will have to look very different from walking around in sandals in Glyngore.”
Jonas Vingegaard raced the 2025 European Championships for Denmark
Pedersen still wants Vingegaard in Montreal
Pedersen has taken a far more optimistic view of the recovery. “I hope we get to make use of him at the Worlds,” the 2019 world champion said recently on his Lang Distance podcast. “I hope his collarbone heals enough, and I am speaking from experience here, Jonas: your collarbone will be healed by the time we race the Worlds.”
Vingegaard’s wife Trine has been much less certain that another race is necessary after a season containing the Giro d’Italia and most of the Tour. “If Jonas said he didn’t want to race again, I would understand,” she said after his Tour exit. “But I also do not know which races would be the obvious ones for him. And I have no idea how he will recover from that collarbone injury.”
Vingegaard himself has kept Montreal in consideration without setting a deadline for a decision. He has said the condition of his collarbone and his motivation after an exhausting year will determine whether he returns.
Before the crash, 2026 had already delivered Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya and a dominant Giro victory. Vingegaard won five stages in Italy and became only the eighth male rider to complete the set of all three Grand Tours before beginning the Tour just five weeks later.
Montreal would put him immediately back against Tadej Pogacar and a field of elite one-day riders after weeks without competition. No preparatory race has yet appeared on his calendar, and Team Visma | Lease a Bike have not announced when he will return to racing.
Denmark’s final decision therefore remains open, with Rasmussen arguing that Vingegaard’s name and palmares should count for little if the form required to justify a major role has not returned by September.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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