"It's not always easy" - Jonas Vingegaard responds to Mads Pedersen's criticism of post-Tour de France criteriums
Cycling
Mads Pedersen recently criticized the post-Tour de France criteriums, pointing out the fixed-results aspect and saying they are awful to watch. This has been brought up to Jonas Vingegaard, who was the winner of the recent Tour de France Saitama Criterium, who has responded to the harsh words of his compatriot.
This is a criticism that Pedersen said in a recent podcast: "It's a done deal. It's so awful to watch, because none of the riders are even trying to make it look like they're doing a bike race. It's more important that they're wearing some kind of bike helmet with a top hat on and a flap on top in a sumo wrestler's suit. That's what they're paid to do,"
In response to that, the former Tour de France winner has responded: "Obviously, it is probably not the toughest bike race over there. But there is still a lot of riding, and it's not always easy," Vingegaard said in words to Ekstra Bladet. "Right in Japan, it was raining and it was a bit slippery, so I ended up crashing. So maybe it wasn't the smartest thing".
Vingegaard took the opportunity to travel to Asia with his family and seize some of his off-season time in a different environment. After racing the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, the Dane still marked his presence at the European Championships but lacked the form to be competitive. It is expected that he will not focus exclusively on training until February, or potentially March. In 2026, he is very likely to make his Giro d'Italia debut.
However despite the ups and the (literal) downs, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider does not regret having made the trip to the Saitama Criterium. "But I think it was a good experience. Both the bike race and the whole trip to Japan," he concluded.
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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.
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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)...
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- JV is really slighting himself with not doing the 1 dayers.. 🤷
leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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