Jonas Vingegaard shrugs doping doubts - "I'm never going to screw things up"

Following his incredibly performance at the Tour de France this year, Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma weren't spared questions regarding doping, however the Dane is keen on proving that his performances are possible without the use of any forbidden distance.

“I'm very much looking forward to riding in the Tour with jersey number 1”, Vingegaard said in an interview with Algemeen Dagblad. “And for the long term: I would like to win all three Grand Tours. And really discover the classics. The Giro di Lombardia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège should suit me.”

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Vingegaard had broken through the field at the 2021 Tour where he finished second behind Tadej Pogacar, and this summer he managed to take the best out of the Slovenian, mostly due to a set of monstruous climbing performances, such as in the Col du Granon and Hautacam where he gained heaps of time on the UAE Team Emirates rider, after succeeding to not lose time over the other summit finishes.

He argues the Grand Tours are his field for now, and he wouldn't be able to replicate the performances in the classics. “I've already ridden those races, but that didn't always go well. Prices of a few weeks suit me better for the time being, because I recover quickly every day. I haven't put the classics out of my mind yet, but I might never manage to win one."

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He was asked about Michael Rasmussen, his compatriot who had been racing for the Tour de France victory in 2007 before being forced out due to doping suspicions. “What happened to him was not good for him. But he cheated."

"I don't agree with him that he was robbed. The cycling world has changed. In Denmark, people know that we don't cheat anymore. At least, I think and hope they think so. I can talk about this topic very easily. It is a pity that we sometimes have to suffer for another generation in our image," Vingegaard admits.

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“As a fan I would also wonder if we are not being fooled. It's slowly getting better, but we shouldn't hide the subject," he said, "If you cheat, you should be gone. I'm never going to screw things up. I want to prove that it is possible without doping. And I know people said that twenty years ago."

"They can keep my tests forever and retest them in a hundred years. I think that's totally fine," he concluded. Vingegaard is aiming for a second Tour de France win this summer as the Dutch team revealed he was the GC leader. Wout van Aert will join him once more, with Primoz Roglic eyeing the Giro d'Italia.

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