Jonas Vingegaard's coach confident of rising form: "he can grow even further in the coming days in the Tour"

What can Jonas Vingegaard achieve in this Tour de France seems to be a question with a growing answer throughout these past two weeks. The Dane has matched Tadej Pogacar on several key occasions and has beaten him in the Slovenian's own terrain on stage 11. Tim Heemskerk, mastermind behind the defending champion's preparation for the Grand Boucle, believes the Dane still has room to improve in these last days of the race.

He recalls the days following the brutal crash at Itzulia Basque Country which began this story: “The first moments were emotional. You could see that he had fallen hard and had very tough days behind him," Heemskerk said in an interview with Wielerflits. "Although I also met a Jonas who was combative. The days before, he had already been able to sit up, stand on his legs and walk a few steps. The fact that there was some form of mobility was already something positive. The first few days that was impossible with his severely damaged lungs... You can’t estimate how much fitness, but also muscle mass Jonas has lost there."

The crash threw a wrench into Visma's plans of going for a third consecutive Tour de France win. Combined with the injuries of Steven Kruijswijk and Wilco Kelderman; and the forced absence of Sepp Kuss due to Covid-19 - not to mention Wout van Aert's modest form due to injuries suffered in the spring - it seemed as if Visma was entering the race sub-par to their best abilities, Vingegaard included. But behind the scenes, the Dutch team worked as best as possible to prepare him for the Tour with a clear goal in mind.

Vingegaard spent over three weeks in an altitude training camp in Tignes where he showed good signs of improving, and Heemskerk reveals that he stayed even longer than planned because the team felt that he was still lacking form by the end of the camp. "In his training sessions in the last few days I had the feeling that we were still a bit short. That is why we extended the altitude training by another three days," he tells. How important those three days were is a hard guess, but what we do know is that Vingegaard entered the Tour in flying form, right away matching Tadej Pogacar on the Madona di San Luca on the opening weekend.

“Would riding in the hectic peloton cause so much stress that it would cost a huge amount of energy? ...On the climb of San Luca (on stage 2, ed.) we already got the answer on the second day that this did not seem to be the case. On the fourth day on the Galibier he confirmed this again by following Pogacar uphill for a long time. In the stage through the Massif Central (stage 11, which he won, ed.) we all had the feeling, based on his values, that things were starting to look very good," he says. The Dane also matched Pogacar on the gravel stage to the surprise of many, himself chasing down the race leader who went on the attack multiple times.

But on stage 11 he dealt a rather brutal blow as UAE Team Emirates worked all day long and Pogacar attacked, distancing Vingegaard with 30 kilometers to go, but the Dane was then able to claw him back and even beat him in the final sprint. An emotional triumph for him. "...That does indeed look like the old Jonas as we know him," Heemskerk adds. 

Entering the Pyrenees this Saturday, the race enters new terrain with repeated efforts and longer ascents to make the difference. Terrain that on paper, suits Vingegaard better, and confidence-wise Vingegaard also seems to be on a higher level than Pogacar after the last battles they've had. The Visma coach leaves a statement that will also worry UAE into key days of the race: "...Based on the figures and his way of working, we still hope that he can grow even further in the coming days in the Tour".