“Jonas: your collarbone will be healed by the time we race the Worlds” – Mads Pedersen sends message to Vingegaard with 2026 return still uncertain
CyclingThursday, 06 August 2026 at 13:15
Mads Pedersen wants Jonas Vingegaard alongside him at the World Championships in Montreal, despite the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader remaining without a confirmed return date following his Tour de France crash.
Vingegaard fractured his collarbone on stage 15 while sitting second overall behind Tadej Pogacar. The injury required surgery and ended his attempt to complete the Giro-Tour double five weeks after his dominant victory in Italy.
The crash brought a sudden halt to a season in which Vingegaard had already won Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya and five Giro stages before becoming only the eighth male rider to win all three Grand Tours.
The Dane has left open the possibility of racing again in 2026, with the World Championships the most prominent remaining target. His participation will depend on how the collarbone heals and whether the motivation returns after two Grand Tours and another spell of rehabilitation.
Pedersen tells Vingegaard to prepare for Montreal
Pedersen addressed his compatriot directly on the latest episode of the Lang Distance podcast. “I hope we get to make use of him at the Worlds,” said the 2019 world champion. “I hope his collarbone heals enough, and I am speaking from experience here, Jonas: your collarbone will be healed by the time we race the Worlds.”
Pedersen has returned from collarbone injuries during his own career and believes Vingegaard has enough time to recover before Denmark heads to Canada. The men’s road race takes place on September 27, more than two months after the Tour crash.
Vingegaard had not resumed training when he appeared at the Tour of Denmark, while Team Visma | Lease a Bike have yet to add another race to his 2026 programme.
His wife Trine has been more cautious about the prospect of an autumn comeback. “When you look at his season as a whole, it is clear that you are very drained,” she told Feltet. “You are constantly switched on, and when you are an introvert like he is, that takes energy out of him.”
"If Jonas said he didn’t want to race again, I would understand,” she added. “But I also do not know which races would be the obvious ones for him. And I have no idea how he will recover from that collarbone injury.”
The Montreal road race would offer Denmark a very different option alongside Pedersen and the country’s established one-day specialists. Its repeated climbing and long-distance demands are far closer to Vingegaard’s strengths than a conventional championship course.
Vingegaard only has one senior appearance in Danish colours during his pro career
One more target after a historic Giro
Vingegaard’s Giro victory had already transformed his 2026 season before the Tour began. He won five stages and completed the Grand Tour treble by more than five minutes, adding the pink jersey to his Tour victories in 2022 and 2023 and his 2025 Vuelta triumph.
Visma then won the opening team time trial of the Tour in Barcelona, placing Vingegaard in yellow before Pogacar took control of the race. The Dane remained second overall until his crash ended a run of five consecutive Tour appearances inside the top two.
A World Championships appearance would follow weeks away from competition and a disrupted training block. The individual time trial on September 20 leaves less recovery time, while the road race follows seven days later.
Vingegaard has not committed to either event, and no preparatory race has yet appeared on his calendar. Pedersen, though, is already talking as if Denmark’s two-time Tour winner will be beside him in Montreal.
For now, Vingegaard’s season remains paused after the Tour crash, with his collarbone recovery and appetite for another major target still to determine whether the Giro victory becomes the final completed race of his year.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- he wants clarity on the team's plans. what clarity does the team have on his plans to remain a hard-worker once he gets a longer contract?mij06-08-2026
- not only do they deserve it, the racing is fantastic. yesterday's stage was amazing.mij06-08-2026
- I agree, Remco did have bigger power output in the lower and punchier mountains, but when they would have got into the high mountains, then the picture would be turned around. I still think Jonas is a better high mountain climber and would have beaten Remco on Alp d'Huez. Maybe we will never know, I have the feeling Jonas will retire. He has nothing more to prove: He won all three GT, TdF twice... he won all the major one week stage races... he can't seem to win one day races... he crashed out on a few occasions and hurt himself pretty badly... him staying and beating other cyclists that are not Pogačar is BS... he knows he will never again beat Pogi, regardless what he says... SO??? Retirement !!!PogiSloFans06-08-2026
- I can't imagine saying "no" to a countryman making this request to represent your company to help the team win.mij06-08-2026
- Learning isn't just about acquiring new skills—it’s a direct investment in your future. Every time you dedicate time to grow, you reaffirm your commitment to becoming a better version of yourself and prepare for bigger opportunities ahead.raulmejia06-08-2026
- I get the impression that VIngegaard doesnt actually like to race bike-races so I dont think he will.miguel06-08-2026
- Look, Pogi is my compatriot and I know a little more about him then ordinary commentators. I have inside information. Pogi's estimated VO2 max is around 90 to 96 mL/kg/min, some are saying amost up to 100, which places him among the highest ever suggested for an endurance athlete. However, it's not the single reason he dominates. His true advantage comes from a combination of: 1. An exceptionally high VO2 max. 2. The ability to ride at an unusually high percentage of it for long periods. 3. Outstanding cycling efficiency. 4. Rapid recovery. 5. Exceptional race intelligence. He knows exactly what's happening in each race, so on many occasions he changes the teams plans and tactics between the race and put's his domestiques in a different position. If that fales, he goes by himself and says "bye bye... see you in the douches." 6. My country of Slovenia is widely recognized as one of the top countries in the world for athletic success per capita. With a population of just around 2. million, we consistently rank near the very peak of global sporting achievements. Our sports stars are: Pogi (the G.O.A.T. of cycling), Primož Roglič (a former high profile professional cyclist that used to be a ski jumper), Luka Dončić (NBA star), Anže Kopitar (NHL star), Janja Garnbret (the greatest competitive sport climber of all time), Tina Maze (a legendary alpine skiing champion with multiple Olympic gold medals and WC), Domen Prevc (the best ski jumper in the world), Nika Prevc (Domen's sister, also the best female ski jumper in the world... 3 years in a row)... Need I say more !!!PogiSloFans06-08-2026
- > All in all, these estimates look so confusing. Maybe they aren’t that confusing. Once you account for bike weight and aerodynamics, it’s still possible that Pantani had to put in more effort than Pogačar, even though he climbed slower.averagecyclist06-08-2026
- Before 2024, it was estimated Pogacar's VO2max was in the range of 90, based on his performances. I've read Vingegaard's VO2max was oficially calculated at 97, when his was 17. It seems indeed this metric is not solely responsable for a cyclist performance. According to Na1chaca on X, Pantani's 1997 performance on Alpe d'Huez has an aSLP of 710, while Pogacar's same climb this Tour has 693. Also, Velora Cycling claimed on X their equipment-adjusted model put Pantani's 1995 performance on Alpe d'Huez 14 seconds ahead of Pogacar. All in all, these estimates look so confusing.
raven06-08-2026 - He has to be around the 100 mark. He is not tired after a effort that beat Pantani's 60% record. Also he is repeating those effort day after day by attacking at 9 w/kg+abstractengineer06-08-2026
Loading
2 Comments