“The motorbike was just in front of the bunch and maybe did not take the best trajectory”: Davide Piganzoli questions race vehicle's role after Jonas Vingegaard crashes out of the Tour de France
CyclingSunday, 19 July 2026 at 22:40
Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour de France came to a devastating end after crashing on stage 15, with Visma-Lease a Bike's carefully planned strategy collapsing in an instant. After the finish, teammate Davide Piganzoli described the incident, suggesting a motorbike riding just ahead of the peloton may have played a role.
Piganzoli describes the crash
The decisive moment came with just over 20 kilometers remaining, when Vingegaard crashed on a right-hand bend while the peloton was traveling at high speed. The Dane suffered a broken collarbone and was forced to abandon the race.
Speaking after the end of the stage, Piganzoli recalled what he saw from inside the bunch. “The motorbike was just in front of the bunch and maybe did not take the best trajectory,” Piganzoli said. “We hit something and I saw that Jonas, who was just behind me, had crashed.”
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Despite his initial impression, the Italian was careful not to assign blame before seeing more evidence. “I do not know exactly what happened to Jonas,” he added. “Maybe tonight we will see some videos and images, and then we will know more.”
Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Marc Reef reached Vingegaard moments after the crash before the two-time Tour winner was taken away for medical examinations.
“We came around the corner and saw him lying there. It is terrible,” Reef said. “He is on his way for an X-ray, and we cannot say much more at the moment.”
According to Reef, it quickly became clear that Vingegaard's race was over. “He was in pain, and it was clear that he could not continue,” Reef said. “He did not say much, but he said that he was in pain.”
Vingegaard had to abandon the Tour de France 2026 after breaking his collarbone
A race plan destroyed in an instant
The crash came just as Visma-Lease a Bike was executing its strategy for the stage. The team had placed riders in the early breakaway before preparing to increase the pace ahead of the final climb in support of Vingegaard.
“Everything was going really well,” Piganzoli explained. “We had riders in the breakaway and then we tried to go full gas to keep the gap as small as possible.”
The impact for the team was immediate. “It was a very bad moment for us, especially when you are still in the race,” he said. “I had been working on the earlier climb and suddenly I did not know what I was supposed to do. I went to the finish, and now we have the rest day to make a new plan for the final week.”
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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- He could be tired as he only got 4 hours sleep. Sleep is your bodies major recovery tool.Nonfictionone20-07-2026
- That’s it. People are getting a bit excited about this. Remco did not ride at pogacar’s level, he rode at IDT’s level. However he WAS the only rider able to ride at IDT’s level that day, especially with Jonas out. I hope remco is on the podium in Paris but I suspect he will fall away, like he typically does. He is lighter than he has been in the past and maybe that will be the difference, but he has already struggled in this tdf.Nonfictionone20-07-2026
- I’m all for testing, but if done at 2am, then they need to wake up and test all of the top 10 riders —not just number 1 and number 2 — to not show any type of bias. And wake them all up at the same time vs one at 2am and another at 5am. So much lack of common sense.b3tlla20-07-2026
- tells me they have very serious suspicions. not sure why the knee jerk reaction is to doubt the testing and support the riders. it's CYCLING after all. the sport that invented drug based cheatingwhkman20-07-2026
- seems like they have serious suspicions. I'd wait and see if anything pops up as far as positive tests. think it can take from 48 hours up to a week for lab testing.whkman20-07-2026
- needless to say Ganna had 3 or so flats at Roubaixwhkman20-07-2026
- Yes, Remco officially won... but was gifted, by Pogi. Ad acta.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales20-07-2026
- Cyclingnut is right...and you're wrong. Ad acta.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales20-07-2026
- Maybe..awp20-07-2026
- No contenders ever have before, I'm not sure if any non contenders ever have since this programs creation back in 2015. But workers are different than the bosses. At least in cycling.awp20-07-2026
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