“It's a bit strange to be racing against your own team leader” - Long-time Pogacar lieutenant eyes helping Jonas Vingegaard beat Slovenian at 2027 Worlds
Cycling
Mikkel Bjerg has spent seven seasons helping Tadej Pogacar beat Jonas Vingegaard, but the Danish rider would relish the chance to reverse those roles at the 2027 World Championships. Should Vingegaard finally make his elite Worlds debut in Sallanches, one of Pogacar's longest-serving UAE Team Emirates - XRG teammates is eager to help him challenge the Slovenian for the rainbow jersey.
Bjerg had already considered the possibility of competing against Pogacar at this year's championships in Montreal, before the Slovenian's Vuelta a Espana crash brought his season to a premature end. "It's a strange one. I would have been racing against Tadej Pogacar, my team leader, if he hadn't crashed at the Vuelta," Bjerg explained on Eurosport's Radio Tour. "That would have been the first time. It's a bit strange to be racing against your own team leader."
The 28-year-old represented Denmark in Montreal, while Pogacar missed the defence of his world title after suffering a broken collarbone, concussion and fractures in his neck and upper back. Bjerg is keen to experience that unfamiliar confrontation, not least because it would give him a rare opportunity to test himself against the riders he usually supports.
"I'd also like to show how versatile a rider I am," he said. "So if I could have been up there towards the finale, racing against the guys who are actually my team leaders, that would have been great to show as well."
Before joining UAE in 2020, Bjerg won three consecutive under-23 world time trial titles. He has since claimed a stage victory at the 2023 Criterium du Dauphine and finished fourth at the 2024 Tour of Flanders, although opportunities to pursue individual results have been relatively limited alongside Pogacar. Much of his work now involves controlling races for the Slovenian, often long before the decisive attacks begin.
Vingegaard only has one senior appearance in Danish colours on his palmares
Could Vingegaard finally make his elite Worlds debut in 2027?
For all his Grand Tour success, Vingegaard has never started an elite World Championships road race. His only Worlds appearance came in the under-23 event in 2018, while his sole elite European Championships outing ended in a DNF in 2025.
The Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader had hoped to race in Montreal this year, but the fractured collarbone sustained during the Tour de France ultimately ended his season.
Sallanches has been a potential target for several years. Danish national coach Michael Morkov has previously confirmed discussions with Vingegaard about the 2027 championships, where the men's road race features 20 ascents of the Cote de Domancy and approximately 5,700 metres of climbing across 265 kilometres.
Bjerg would welcome the chance to be involved, even if the mountainous French course is hardly suited to his own strengths. "I'd absolutely love to help Jonas," he said. "It would have been great if he'd ridden both the European Championships and the World Championships this year as well."
And his enthusiasm for 2027 is clear. "It would be brilliant if he rode the World Championships next year, even though the course doesn't particularly suit me. I'd really love to do it. I'd really love to see him become world champion as well."
Having raced in Montreal himself, however, Bjerg was not convinced Vingegaard had missed the opportunity of a lifetime. "The World Championships in particular unfolded in a way that made me think: OK, he hasn't missed the opportunity of his life," he explained. "It was more like a Classics race than I'd expected. I'd have preferred to see him at the European Championships. That course suited him better."
The climbing in Sallanches should be far more favourable to Vingegaard, although the Dane has relatively little experience of racing for major one-day titles. His best WorldTour Classic result remains eighth at the 2021 Clasica de San Sebastian, a striking contrast with his achievements across three weeks.
Read also
Another Danish star willing to join Vingegaard
Tobias Lund Andresen is another rider who could make himself available for Denmark if Vingegaard decides to race. The 24-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough 2026 campaign with Decathlon CMA CGM Team, establishing himself among the peloton's most promising sprinters. With the repeated climbs around Sallanches offering little prospect of personal success, Lund Andresen might ordinarily have been inclined to skip the championships.
"I'd want to ride it too if Jonas was riding," he said on Radio Tour. "Normally, I probably wouldn't race for the national team if I didn't feel I could make a difference, but if Jonas is there, then..."
Lund Andresen's Decathlon teammate Paul Seixas could be one of the biggest obstacles standing in Vingegaard's way. The young Frenchman has emerged as a serious contender for cycling's biggest one-day prizes after winning La Fleche Wallonne and Il Lombardia in 2026, and the mountainous Sallanches circuit is expected to suit him considerably better than his Danish teammate.
It is also a course with a special place in French cycling history. Bernard Hinault won the world title there in 1980, and Seixas will be hoping to follow in his footsteps when the championships return to the town next August.
For Lund Andresen, that could mean helping Vingegaard chase down a teammate he has spent the season racing alongside. Bjerg, meanwhile, could find himself doing the same against Pogacar, with whom he has shared countless kilometres at UAE since 2020.
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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- He has the Twin combo of being vulnerable to germs and prone to crashes on top of not heeding the complaints from his body. Thats just crash and burn career.abstractengineer05-11-2026
- You can't complete a journey without taking next step. He has to do that or start looking for another job. I hope he can get his act together. It's a make or break next season for him. I wish him well.Cyclingsbestfan05-11-2026
- does anyone really think he is taking a next step?mij05-11-2026
- in the team’s defense, Bernal is 29. when he won his first TdF people were talking about him winning a record # of GTs. Where would they be if that crash had never happened. I’m not saying he would compete with Tadej, but he did podium Strade Bianche, and certainly could have won a GT that Tadej wasn’t in.mij05-11-2026
- "c'mon Jonas!"wrsty05-11-2026
- I see I missed a lot during my boycott.Jumpyjohn05-11-2026
- What kind of sauce is on that rice? Ketchup?Kbd05-11-2026
- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
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