"That doesn’t reflect Jonas’ own attitude at all. It’s a shame" - Wout van Aert reacts to controversial comments of Vingegaard's wife

In an ideal world, during the Tour de France, all eyes would be on the racing and the riders. For Team Visma | Lease a Bike in 2025 however, the main topic of conversation has been completely flipped by a sensational series of interviews from the wife of team leader Jonas Vingegaard.

“Knowing Jonas as I do, I’d say the team (Visma, ed.) is pushing him too far now. I’m afraid he’s burning the candle at both ends," Trine Vingegaard Hansen told Politiken. "I think people sometimes forget the human being behind the athlete – and how to get the best out of him. It could all backfire.”  

In a separate interview with Jyllands-Posten, she said: “With two children, he does feel he’s missing out on life at home. That has to be weighed against the joy he gets from cycling. In many ways, the countdown to the end of his career began when we had our first child.”

One of the other criticisms raised by Trine was the perceived lack of support given to Vingegaard on some stages, as riders such as Van Aert go for stage wins and their own goals. “If you’re also going for stage wins with other riders, then those efforts can’t be used to support Jonas,” she said.

It's not just Jonas Vingegaard's race that has been rocked by the comments either, the rest of the Dane's Team Visma | Lease a Bike teammates are now being questioned about their team leader's wife in the pre and post stage interviews during what is the biggest race of their respective seasons.

“We’ve seen the comments too,” admitted Wout van Aert in conversation with VTM Nieuws, when the subject of Trine's comments and criticism was addressed ahead of stage 3 on Monday afternoon. “I regret what was written. We’ve talked about it, and the team knows exactly where I stand. That feeling doesn’t reflect Jonas’ own attitude at all. It’s a shame it was presented that way.”