Although for a long time it looked unlikely, Jonas Vingegaard will be present at the start of the 2024 Tour de France in Florence. Being present and being competitive are two very different things however, and whether or not the Dane can compete for a Maillot Jaune hat trick remains to be seen.
"He's OK, and he's really motivated," Team Visma | Lease a Bike coach Mathieu Heijboer says of Vingegaard's current condition in conversation with Cycling Weekly after the confirmation of the team's Tour de France lineup was announced. "For sure, we think he will be competitive. But there are still too many insecurities [over form] to say he's ready to win."
On Tuesday morning, Vingegaard and Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Tour de France hopes were handed a further blow as Vuelta a Espana champion and long time loyal super domestique of Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss was ruled out of the 2024 Tour de France through covid. The biggest fear test, or even fear, for Vingegaard over the coming weeks however, could be the individual time-trial, as Heijboer explains.
"With the big injuries that he had, he hasn't been able to train a lot on that bike," Heijboer admits honestly, a big blow considering the dominance in which Vingegaard displayed in the discipline at the 2023 Tour de France, all but securing the Maillot Jaune with one of the greatest rides of all time on the stage 16. "So we will not be fully prepared. We did what we could, but for sure it's not optimal."
Vingegaard isn't the only hopeful to have had their preparation affected either. Both Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel were also caught up in the same Itzulia Basque Country crash as Vingegaard, and although Tadej Pogacar was able to dominate the Giro d'Italia in second gear, no man since Marco Pantani in 1998 has managed to back up a Maglia Rosa win with a Maillot Jaune success. As such, don't rule Vingegaard out just yet.
For the first time ever, the BIG 6 (Pogačar, Vingegaard, Roglič, Evenepoel, Van der Poel, Van Aert) will be at the startline of the same race (Tour de France). 😍 Not all riders had ideal preparation for this race, but feel lucky to witness these times. ❤️
