“Jonas really wanted to be there” – Vingegaard’s World Championship desire defended after claim he “doesn’t even want to be world champion”
CyclingSunday, 27 September 2026 at 20:00
Jonas Vingegaard’s absence from the World Championships has prompted plenty of debate in Denmark, but national coach Michael Morkov has pushed back firmly against the suggestion that the two-time Tour de France winner simply has no interest in chasing the rainbow jersey.
That accusation came from Brian Holm, who argued ahead of Sunday’s road race that Vingegaard would rather stay away than deal with the pressure and attention that comes with trying to become world champion. “My theory is that Jonas doesn’t even want to be world champion,” Holm said on the Cafe Eddy podcast.
Morkov has now offered a very different account from inside the Danish setup.
“No, that’s not the impression I have,” he told Feltet, in quotes reported by Ekstra Bladet. “Jonas has indicated to me that he really wants to be part of the Danish national team, both last year and this year. He said early in the season that he wanted to ride the World Championships. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”
Vingegaard hasn't raced since crashing our of the Tour de France
Montreal remained in play after the Tour
Even after Vingegaard’s Tour de France ended with a fractured collarbone on stage 15, Montreal was not immediately ruled out. When he appeared at the Tour of Denmark later that month, Vingegaard said any return would depend on how the collarbone healed and whether he still had the motivation for another race block.
Mads Pedersen was openly hoping the recovery would allow it. “I hope we get to make use of him at the Worlds,” the former world champion said during the summer, before addressing Vingegaard directly: “Jonas: your collarbone will be healed by the time we race the Worlds.”
That possibility disappeared in August when Visma confirmed that the injury had delayed Vingegaard’s return to training and that he would not race again in 2026. Fresh rumours of an October comeback later surfaced around the European Championships and Il Lombardia, but Visma dismissed those too. Vingegaard’s competitive season was already over.
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A rare gap in a Grand Tour-heavy career
The debate around Vingegaard and national-team racing exists partly because there is so little championship history to point to. His only World Championships appearance came in the under-23 road race in 2018. His senior career has instead been built overwhelmingly around stage racing, with victories at the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro d’Italia forming the centre of his palmares.
His return to Danish colours at the 2025 European Championships also ended badly. Vingegaard was dropped early and did not finish, an outing Holm later referenced when questioning whether the pressure of racing for Denmark appeals to him.
Morkov’s conversations with Vingegaard point elsewhere. The Danish coach says the Worlds were already on Vingegaard’s agenda early in the season, before Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya, the Giro and the Tour had all added to an already heavy year.
“There are consequences to riding two Grand Tours,” Morkov said. “Jonas had said that he was motivated and interested in riding the World Championships, but when you ride the Giro and the Tour, you know that it is a hard programme.”
Vingegaard had already spoken publicly after the Tour about the Worlds depending on both the recovery of his collarbone and whether he still had the motivation for another race block. The injury eventually made that decision for him.
Rainbow jersey question pushed into 2027
The World Championships will therefore pass without Vingegaard once again, while Denmark instead build around Mads Pedersen in Montreal.
Vingegaard is now back training towards next season after Visma formally closed his 2026 campaign, with his specific 2027 objectives still to be decided with the team. Whether a future World Championships becomes one of those priorities remains open.
What Morkov disputes is the idea that Vingegaard stayed away because the rainbow jersey held no appeal. According to the Danish coach, Montreal was a race he wanted before the Tour crash took the choice out of his hands.
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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