Jonas Vingegaard hopes first and foremost for his teammate
Wout van Aert's recovery after a terrifying crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen. However, the timing of the Belgian's injuries open up the possibility that he may ride the
Tour de France, and the defending champion would be happy to have van Aert once again there.
"A lot of things aren't worth it. It is a dangerous sport and you travel a lot. As a result, you are often far away from your family and the people you love most. Of course I love this sport and I have chosen it, but I will always advise my children not to choose this profession," Vingegaard said in an honest interview with De Telegraaf. "We are together at different times, but during the races we keep in touch via FaceTime. It is special to experience how Frida grows and develops. She speaks in a mix of Danish and English, which is nice to see. I am very proud of her and also of my wife Trine, who is responsible for a large part of her upbringing."
Vingegaard himself has had the luck to not have suffered big injuries over recent years, but such bad luck has affected
Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders. Van Aert being the most recent example, he has been forced to miss out on the cobbled monuments; the Giro d'Italia is currently at doubt. "The first thing is to hope for Wout that he recovers well," Vnigegaard said when asked about his teammate.
"He shows every time that he is a super strong force. In any case, a fit Van Aert would be better for the team and me in the Tour de France," he admits. But Vingegaard is aware that van Aert's ambitions lay elsewhere this season and is prepared for his absence even if van Aert is to miss his initial goal of the Giro. "However, I also understand that after five participations in a row, he now opted for the Giro in advance. A lot is uncertain now, but his health comes first."
Olympics is nothing, but pride. It is not like everyone can be there anyway
Does the Olympics really more important than winning TDF for him? I mean Olympics is nothing, but pride. Plus not everyone can compete at the Olympics anyway.
Huh, he’s not going to win the TdF, he’d be helping his team do that.
Financially he doesn’t need it and it’s a goal already achieved.
The olympics are only every 4 years, not easy to win and he won’t have many chances left and you see how easy it is to miss any one race. It’s an individual win and for your country, I think you’re underplaying its importance. Nobody who can win is likely to want to pass any opportunity to try.
In that respect he’s just like MvdP, yes the olympics (which neither have won and for both it’s either this or next time or too late) are personally more important than participating in another TdF.
Once you have so many big career wins, it remains one of the only things to go for and it’s probably the most exclusive win you can get, no-one else with a similar palmares will get such a cherry on top of their cake so quickly or easily.
So, think again, WVA in his garden at 80 reflecting back, what’s he going to remember more, a individual olympic gold medal for him and country or a few more stages helping Jonas and his team to yet another TdF (which doesn’t depend only on Wout)?
I've been wondering after that crash if he would switch to the Tour, the issue is that it's an Olympic year and he wants to do well there too. Maybe he could race half the Tour and get a rest before the Olympics.
As MvdP has done for similar objectives