“There already is some sickness in the bunch” – Jonas Vingegaard takes facemask precaution for media duties before first Tour de France stage in yellow
CyclingSunday, 05 July 2026 at 14:40
Jonas Vingegaard arrived for his pre-Stage 2 media duties in the yellow jersey and an old-school facemask, with the Tour de France leader taking no chances after illness problems in recent Grand Tours.
The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider moved into the first maillot jaune of the 2026 Tour de France on Saturday after his team won the opening team time trial in Barcelona.
Vingegaard starts Stage 2 with an early advantage over his main rivals, including Tadej Pogacar, who begins the day 12 seconds behind after UAE Team Emirates – XRG finished third on Stage 1.
Before the first road stage of the race, Vingegaard’s choice of face covering during his pre-stage media duties drew immediate attention. The Dane stressed that he is not ill, but said he was being cautious after hearing that sickness is already present inside the peloton.
Vingegaard: “I don’t have anything at all”
“Well, I hear there already is some sickness in the bunch, and as I’ve been sick in my last two Tour de France, I want to be on the safe side and try to stay healthy,” Vingegaard told TNT Sports before Stage 2. “So it’s more a precaution from my side. I don’t have anything at all.”
Vingegaard’s caution comes with recent history behind it. Illness affected him during both of his previous Tour de France appearances, and he begins this edition in the most visible position in the race after taking yellow on the opening day.
“There are also a lot more people, a lot more spectators and a lot more journalists, so there are a lot more things that can go around,” he explained. “I just want to try to stay safer than in the last Grand Tours.”
Yellow jersey duties add to early Tour exposure
Vingegaard’s Stage 1 victory with Team Visma | Lease a Bike gave him the ideal sporting start, but also placed him at the centre of the Tour’s daily routine. As race leader, he has podium duties, media obligations and the constant attention that follows the maillot jaune.
Stage 2 now begins with Vingegaard in yellow, Pogacar 12 seconds back in the polka-dot jersey, and Visma already protecting the first lead of the race. Before the racing resumes, Vingegaard’s priority is simple: stay healthy, stay clear of avoidable risk and start his first road stage in yellow without any early complication.
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.
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- Vingegaard is wearing a medical mask against the virus, but the only virus he needs to worry about today is Pogačaritis, and even firefighting equipment won't help him, let alone a regular medical mask. Bring it on... GOOOOO POGIIIIIIIIII !!!mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales05-07-2026
- My prediction: UAE will control tomorrow's stage then 2 days of rest... then they will control Tourmalet stage then 4 days of rest... then Lioran stage then 3 days of rest... then stage 14... but on stage 15 Visma will realize that they have already lost the Tour. OMG, it's so easy to be UAE's Directeur Sportif.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales05-07-2026
- Yes, Tadej Pogacar was the fastest of the whole field through the final section of the course. As for Visma, yesterday they showed that they are the Team Sky of the modern era and Jonas is an even better version of Froome. They are by far the most professional team in the pro peloton and they deserved to win the TTT, but unfortunately for them, "Froome No.2" is racing against an alien.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales05-07-2026
- Visma showed yesterday that they are the Team Sky of the modern era and even have a better version of Froome. They are by far the most professional team in the pro peloton and they deserved to win the TTT, but unfortunately for them, Froome No.2 is racing against an alien.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales05-07-2026
- Evenepoel is apparently still with Soudal-Quick Step according to this article.Ride197405-07-2026
- Perfect time for the UCI to ban ice-socks. Absolutely morally bankrupt organisation.antipodeanpedalfan05-07-2026
- Correct First major test will be the Pyrenees, not because the route here is scaring, on the contrary it is relative mild. However the pivotal denominator could be the excessive heat, on Tuesday the temperature on much of the route is forecasted to be around 40-44 degrees C. The TDF riders react very different to heat. Despite specific heat training and numerous cooling devices it is still the genes that eventually determines the individual physiological threshold for heat. From previously we already have data that signifies to what extend individual riders performance are related to excessive heat, including heat for several days in a row. Getting rid of body heat relies on your body surface area to mass ratio (BSA/mass). A higher ratio means more skin area per pound of body weight, making it easier to lose heat. Conversely, heavier individuals generate more metabolic heat but have less skin area to shed it, putting them at a biophysical disadvantage. Very exciting days ahead - watch the weather forecast.Jakob05-07-2026
- Given that he's not even riding for GC this Tour, I'd say he's not "overrated" - he's probably going to be used as a luxury domestique/road captain if he changes teams. I don't get the feeling that the cycling media has ever hyped him as being anything more than he is: a solid diesel climber/stage-getter who tend to get underrated by other teams until he nicks off in a breakaway and lands himself in the top 5 or higher. The fact that those doco series' followed him and made him look he was some sort of tantrum diva isn't really his fault. The guy is incredibly hard on himself, and his dry sense of humour/self-depreciating personality type doesn't seem to translate well - Jonas has the same problems with some of his statements - so I guess people can think what they want, but seems to me that there's a lot of severely over-hyped/delusional riders out there and he's not on that list.antipodeanpedalfan05-07-2026
- Visma has poked the bear.Cooldude05-07-2026
- Pogi got the best climbing time, his usual levelabstractengineer05-07-2026
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