Philippe Gilbert points out possible knee injury in Jonas Vingegaard: "Is this a result of that crash?"

Jonas Vinegaard has sustained multiple and very serious injuries in the crash he suffered this spring at Itzulia Basque Country and it might have literally changed the day the way he pedals on the bike. Philippe Gilbert has looked at the Dane's position and believes it is different than before the April accident.

"I think he's racing very, very well. I notice that his left knee turns in a bit, especially during the time trial. Is this a result of that crash? Is he having trouble with his muscles?" Gilbert shared in a post. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider had a good time-trial where he managed to limit the losses to only 25 seconds on Tadej Pogacar in terrain that favoured the Slovenian, and throughout the race so far he has shown very good form in every important challenge.

"It was so bad that I thought I was going to die. And if I did survive, I thought to myself to stop cycling," Vingegaard admit. "Trine (his wife, ed.) also thought I was going to die, but we have now been able to put it behind us... I had become a bit nonchalant, thinking that it wouldn’t happen to me".

In the first week of the Tour de France Vingegaard lost just over a minute to his Slovenian rival, and is clearly solely focusing on him, whilst riders like Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic seem to not be getting much attention from Visma. The Dane is on the back foot, but the losses are not too significant and in the many mountain stages that remain in the Tour, it is very realistic that he could take it back.

However in terms of popularity, they certainly are far behind from the two riders that have attacked stage 9 hard. Former pro Michael Boogerd said in De Avondetappe: "The true cycling fan prefers to watch someone like Pogacar or Evenepoel, so this doesn't make Visma | Lease a Bike very popular."

But the tactics that have been seen throughout the first week are not too different from previous editions, both from Pogacar and Vingegaard. "I think Visma likes to see Pogacar race like this. Two years ago, he also raced impressively in the first week and showcased his strength a lot, which he's doing again now."