Jonas Vingegaard suffered a concussion in his recent crash at Paris-Nice as well as a contusion to his hand, with the two-time Tour de France champion now facing a race against time to get back to full fitness.
The Dane crashed in the early stages of stage five of Paris-Nice, a traditional week-long warm-up race for the Tour de France, and was pictured bleeding from his lip when live coverage began.
He continued to ride for the entire stage, a hilly day taking in over 200km, and appeared disoriented when he eventually crossed the line in 16th place. He had been wearing the race’s yellow leader’s jersey at the start of the day but passed it onto his team-mate and eventual champion, Matteo Jorgensen, at the end of the stage. He did not start stage six.
“After the crash I was dizzy, and after the stage I got very nauseous and was incredibly tired, which continued for the next several days,” he told the Danish newspaper BT.
“I’m happy to be back on the bike, even though it took a little longer than hoped because of my concussion, which has required a lot of rest.”
Riders are normally checked by medical staff after in-race crashes for signs of concussion, with a specific protocol introduced in 2021.
Vingegaard’s announcement is a further setback in what has been a stop-start season for the Visma-Lease a Bike leader. He had been slated to ride the Volta a Catalunya, which begins on Monday 24 March, but the decision was taken to withdraw to prioritise his recovery.
The next race on his programme is June’s Criterium du Dauphine, another traditional tune-up race for the Tour de France. But if no are made changes to his schedule the Dane will now go months without any stage racing and will arrive at the Tour’s start line in Lille significantly under-prepared compared to his major rival Tadej Pogacar, who has been racing the Spring Classics.
“Right now, we’re taking it day by day and letting the rehabilitation decide whether to make further changes or additions to my programme,” Vingegaard said, adding that he had returned to “very slowly” riding his bike only on Thursday, a full week after the crash.
Two options to build up his race programme could be Itzulia Basque Country in April, or the Tour de Romandie, which runs from late April to early May. The 28-year-old may feel hesitant to return to the Basque race after his horror crash last year, when he sustained a punctured lung as well as a broken collarbone and ribs. He has not raced Romandie since 2019.
