"We have to protect ourselves" - Jonas Vingegaard recalls February crash; concerns with fans following him during training
Cycling
Jonas Vingegaard is starting his season this weekend at Paris-Nice, but that wasn't always the plan. The Dane is doing so because his preparation in the winter was hampered by a crash, partly caused by an amateur cyclist following him in the Málaga region of Spain. Vingegaard talks through the incident, the safety concerns and the possible need for protection out on the road.
The stresses and demands of being a top rider are already immense, but over the past few years, the surge in amateur riders following the top riders and recording videos for social media has grown immensely. In early February, such an instance ended badly for Vingegaard, who was being followed by a rider and ended up crashing as a result of trying to distance him so as to have his own space out on the road.
“I think the guy who posted it actually explained it quite well. That was exactly what happened. He followed me, and then I just went too fast into a corner," Vingegaard said in conversation with TV2. "That was something I shouldn’t have done. So I crashed, but it wasn’t actually that bad.” However that, combined with an illness, saw him drop his initial plan of racing the UAE Tour, where Isaac del Toro and Remco Evenepoel were present.
However Vingegaard is not happy with the frequency in which he is followed on the road: “For me it feels a bit crossing the line that people follow me like that. Maybe he knows who I am, but we don’t know each other. The fact that he sits on my wheel feels a bit uncomfortable. I don’t mind at all if people ride up and ask for a picture. That’s completely fine. But following me is something different.”
“Even if I think I shouldn’t have to, I still need to take that person behind me into account," he explains. "If I brake suddenly, he might crash into me. If I need to blow my nose, I can’t just do it because I might hit him. I constantly have to think about someone else being there.”
Is security on the road now necessary?
Whilst this wouldn't ordinarily be an issue to most riders, when the level of fame reaches such a level, it can be a constant stream of disruptions towards training, as well as the rider's mental wellbeing. Tadej Pogacar famously rode close to home with a jersey asking to to not be disturbed; whilst recently he was also verbally assaulted by a fan who was initially asking for a picture in Monaco.
In Spain recently, Pogacar was training with a motorbike following him so as to provide that extra protection and assure boundaries are respected. Vingegaard considers the same when training in cyclist-heavy regions: “When the crash had just happened I also thought that if it continues like this and gets worse, then that’s where it ends. Either riders will have a motorcycle with them or some kind of personal bodyguard so people can’t get close.”
“There is a reason I go out to ride alone. It’s because I want to ride alone. It’s not so much [of a problem] when I ride in Denmark because there aren’t that many cyclists around Glyngore. But when you are abroad there are often many people sitting on your wheel. We have to protect ourselves. But if it comes to that, then cycling becomes something very different.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- It's going to happen at some point. It will happen to Tadej as well, we all get older. Jonas was in pretty great form at the tour. I still consider him a top two or three cyclist in the world, until he's not.awp15-11-2026
- mij, I am not so sure of that. I have been on a spine ward at a Denver hospital that had quite a few spinal injuries from mountain biking.BDBigGuy15-11-2026
- Pogi takes care of his teammates in races and training. Tadej Pogačar is widely praised within the cycling peloton for his fair and egalitarian leadership, actively supporting his UAE teammates both on the road during races and behind the scenes at training camps. Rather than acting like an untouchable superstar, he has intense team loyalty by sharing daily chores, giving up personal glory to help domestiques, and publicly praising their sacrifices. Unlike some Grand Tour contenders, like Vingegaard, who occasionally train away from their squads, Pogi consistently attends team training camps alongside his domestiques, making the exact same sacrifices to build friendship. I love how Pogačar shares his teammates-domestiques, either when they succeed or win in races or when they simply just do a good job for him. It has to be a great moral boost for them. And then they work even harder and go even deeper for Pogi. This is teamwork.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- Yeah, what he said!Lozza15-11-2026
- I’m sure Jasper Philipsen would disagree with you.Lozza15-11-2026
- Article says he was “out for a spin around the town”, implying not off-road.Lozza15-11-2026
- let’s be honest, Alpecin is all about one rider - MVDP. I’m sure he gets whatever he needs, the rest get the scraps.mij15-11-2026
- there are more vicious injuries on a road bike than a mountain bike far and away.mij15-11-2026
- That'll be one crazy rider
Rafionain-Glas15-11-2026 - Many Europeans say that Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia are one of the most beautiful countries in Europe known for their stunning landscapes because of the Alp mountains, green forests, clean rivers and lakes and national parks.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
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