Jonas Vingegaard misses Olympic Games selection - Mads Pedersen and Mattias Skjelmose hunt gold medal

Denmark has released it's list of riders for the Paris Olympic Games. Following the Tour de France, the races in Paris will give the riders a chance to conquer Olympic medals and fight for one of the most prestigious races in the calendar. But Jonas Vingegaard will not make the trip.

This has been confirmed. Denmark are having Michael Morkov who will do both road race and also be featured in the track events; Mikkel Bjerg who will do the road race and the time-trial as an outsider for the medals; and lastly Lidl-Trek duo of Mattias Skjelmose and Mads Pedersen. The latter is seen as one of the big favourites for the final victory, and it is clear that the Danish team will put their chips in the classics specialist/sprinter.

The quartet does not feature Vingegaard, who is currently building his form back up and making an attempt to recover a strong level ahead of the Tour de France where he is a two-time defending champion. There were already doubts that, even at his best level, he would be in the race since the profile favours the classics specialists, and the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider is far from the nation's best card in such terrain. But the lack of certainty over his health was the nail in the coffin.

"I look forward to helping Mads. I am an assistant rider on a daily basis and specialize in just that," Bjerg said in a press release. "I know I can make a difference to the team. We have a strong Danish team, and we must show that we are ready to fight for the medals in Paris."

The UAE Team Emirates rider beat Vingegaard last year at the Criterium du Dauphiné to take a meaningful win on a time-trial. He was a three-time time-trial World Champion who will try to breakthrough on a key day: “I look forward to the time trial. I have worked with time trials for 10 years, and I know what it takes to 'peak' in that discipline."

"I am incredibly proud to be going to the Olympics. I have gone all in. Since December I have only been at home 14 days, and otherwise I have just raced and been to training camps. I chose to ride the Giro d'Italia and skip the Tour de France in order to be completely ready for the Olympics. That's why I'm also really relieved to be selected.”