"Jonas Vingegaard will decide for himself whether or not he will go to the Tour de France" according to Merijn Zeeman

Arguably the biggest topic of the minds of cycling fans across the world currently, is whether or not Jonas Vingegaard will be at the start line of the 2024 Tour de France in Florence to defend his two successive Maillot Jaune victories.

The Dane is currently training hard at altitude in Tignes, but it remains a race against time for Vingegaard to make it back to full fitness for the Grand Depart. "Ultimately, the point is that in the last weeks of preparation during the altitude training camp in Tignes, he must be completely available for everything we do with the Tour team," says Team Visma | Lease a Bike's outgoing sports director Merijn Zeeman, in quotes collected by Wielerrevue.

"He must be able to perform the toughest endurance training; the intensity, the intervals, the long endurance rides," Zeeman continues, noting how strenuous Vingegaard will be working in order to do absolutely everything he can to recover in time. "A rider who may not be at his own top level, but who is ready for it both physically and mentally. He has to be looking forward to it and have the feeling: I am completely back and can fight with the best for three weeks. If that is not the case, Jonas cannot ride."

In the end, it will all be down to Vingegaard himself according to Zeeman. "Jonas will decide for himself whether or not he will go to the Tour. He has to feel for himself whether he is completely ready for it in all respects and whether he is the old Jonas again. The choice is his. We will never force a rider to take a to compete," the sports director concludes. "I don't think that decision can be made until a week before the start of the Tour. We do not have another rider of his level and with his characteristics in the team. Jonas is so extremely talented that he can grow to a high level very quickly if he is taxable. That means he has a special place for us and we will indeed be waiting for a long time."