Danish coach Mørkøv knows why Jonas Vingegaard won't be at World Championships: 'Not a lack of motivation'
CyclingWednesday, 19 August 2026 at 08:03
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Follow us on GoogleJonas Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike announced Monday that the Danish rider will no longer compete in 2026. Following his crash in the Tour de France, his broken collarbone is still too much of a hindrance. This also means he will not compete in the World Cycling Championships. This comes as a disappointment to national team coach Michael Mørkøv, who had hoped to make him the team’s undisputed leader in Canada.
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The road race at the World Cycling Championships will be held on September 27 in Montreal. It is a 273-kilometer race that covers a large portion of the GP Montreal course. That course is dotted with short hills, so the World Championships will feature 3,600 meters of elevation gain. All those climbing kilometers would suit Vingegaard well, as national team coach Mørkøv knows.
He regrets that he can't field the 29-year-old climber at the World Championships. He definitely saw medal potential in him. "It's really a shame that Jonas won't be there," the Dane tells Feltet. “He’s one of the best cyclists in the world. I think he could have contended for the world championship on the course in Montreal, with its significant elevation changes.”
Still, Vingegaard’s withdrawal didn’t come as a surprise. “Of course, it’s a shame that such a good rider as Jonas won’t be available for the World Championships. But I had expected that. In fact, ever since his crash in the Tour, I’d already thought it would probably be difficult for him to prepare for the World Championships.”
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Read more below the photo!
No World Championships in 2026 for Vingegaard, but maybe in 2027?
"I had a good conversation with Jonas, and he said he would like to be ready to compete for the national team at the World Championships. But he’s still struggling with the injury he sustained during the Tour. At this point, it’s not possible for him to get into good enough shape for the World Championships.”
Vingegaard has only raced in the national colors once in his professional career: he competed in last year’s European Cycling Championships in France. He didn’t make much of an impact there: he was dropped early on and withdrew from the race prematurely. The Dane has never competed in a World Championship, but he has always said he’d like to give it another try.
A new opportunity may present itself as early as next year. The World Cycling Championships will be held in France, in the Haute-Savoie region. That department is home to the Col de Joux Plane, the Col de la Colombière, the Col de la Forclaz, and the Plateau de Solaison, which was included in this year’s Tour de France. In the Alps, an even tougher climbing route can be mapped out than in Canada, so Vingegaard might be able to contend for medals.
Read more below the photo!
Vingegaard in better times, as the winner of the Giro d'Italia.
Jonas Vingegaard raced a lot in 2026
In the press release from Visma | Lease a Bike and Vingegaard, ambitious statements were already made regarding the goals for 2027, which will be discussed in the coming weeks. Undoubtedly, different choices will be made again, following a grueling year for the Dane, if we look at the race days since the 2025 Tour de France.
On X, a calculation was made of all race days for the big names in the peloton since the summer of 2025. Although Vingegaard is often labeled as racing little and spending most of his time at home training, the numbers refute that. Since last year's Tour, Vingegaard has accumulated 94 race days. If he had finished this year's Tour de France, he would now be at 100.
The other general classification riders remain far from that number. Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) takes second place with 78 race days, while Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) account for 77. Remco Evenepoel – also from Red Bull – has reached 71 race days in the same period to date.
Tadej Pogacar? He has raced only 54 days since the Tour de France he won in 2025, although normally 21 Vuelta a España days and a World Championship are added to that. Even then, he remains more than 20 race days below Vingegaard's total. French promising talent Paul Seixas (also from Decathlon) has raced only 47 days since last summer.
'Cycling expert' Gregor Kurent therefore concludes, for all those who called Vingegaard unmotivated: 'Maybe it is not a lack of motivation, but he is just fucking tired.'
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Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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Latest Comments
- - Massive respect for how he frames the pressure. You can see the culture shift: from chasing UCI points to executing for a leader who actually circles back with credit. That Romandie example says a lot about Pogacar and UAE’s environment—calm, ruthless, effective. Vamos Vuelta.breakawaybikerd18-08-2026
- - So wait, he’s already done the Tour twice but never had a WorldTour win on the team until this year? How does that work—do riders not get “wins” if they’re helping a leader? Confusing bit for me.raceready718-08-2026
- - Interesting read, but the piece glosses over his actual role in Spain. Is he on bottle duty through the flats or earmarked for high-mountain pacing? Also, calling every UAE GT roster “Tour-level” feels a bit hyperbolic—stacked, yes, but the Vuelta is different terrain and rhythm.samanthak18-08-2026
- - Love this move for Vermaerke. He was rock solid at DSM/Picnic PostNL, but UAE-XRG is the perfect environment to sharpen his climbing and positioning. If he nails his Vuelta domestique duties for Pogi, he’s on the fast track to a Tour roster spot next year.gearguru3318-08-2026
- - Qué tragedia. Muito respeito para a família. The investigator’s timeline helps, but still feels like a systemic safety failure on open-road races during descents.jeremya16-08-2026
- - Can someone explain what the broom wagon actually signifies? If it hadn’t passed, why was a civilian car allowed on course at all? I’m confused how those protocols work when riders are scattered.tourdeforce916-08-2026
- - Sorry, but this reads a bit like passing the buck. If signage was the only control at that junction, that’s not enough. A single marshal could have prevented this. Operational plan might’ve been followed, but was it adequate?gearguru3316-08-2026
- - If the GNR says it’s “humanly impossible” to cover every access point, shouldn’t organisers rethink neutral service positioning or add mobile motos for gaps on fast descents? This was a secondary access, but speed on that downhill made it primary in practice.jennifer1916-08-2026
- - Heartbreaking. The detail about the broom wagon not yet passing is crucial—explains why Finlay thought the road was still sealed. Condolences to his family and team. RIP Fin.robert6516-08-2026
- - Tears on the front row for NSN… goosebumps. Chapeau to the bunch for letting them lead the pace. Esto es el verdadero espíritu del ciclismo.julien15-08-2026
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