Danish coach prepares for Vingegaard’s European Championship with help from Visma brother: "Information that’s useful to me"

Mørkøv had a pretty good debut as national coach. The former rider saw Mattias Skjelmose finish fourth in Rwanda on Sunday in the road race won by Tadej Pogacar, with Mikkel Honoré finishing twelfth. The next job is approaching soon, as the European Championships begin on Wednesday in France. That's when the time trials will be completed.

At those European Championships, unlike at the World Championships, Mørkøv can count on Vingegaard. In 2025, the Dane built up to the Tour de France, where he finished second behind Pogacar. He then turned his attention to the Vuelta, which he ultimately won. Now, as the icing on the cake of the cycling year, there is the European Championships road race in France this Sunday.

During that Vuelta victory, Jesper Mørkøv, Michael's brother, was Vingegaard's sports director at Visma | Lease a Bike. This has advantages for the national coach, even though he already knows his team leader well. "I know Jonas a little from the peloton and even had a good correspondence with him when we raced together," he told Feltet.

The close relationship with his brother is therefore very useful in this scenario. “I get on well with Jonas, but it's a huge advantage that I can discuss Jonas with my brother, who was recently his sports director in the Vuelta. That way, he can pass on information about Jonas that is useful to me in my role as national coach.”

Mørkøv sees that this could work in much the same way for other teams. “It's a bit like if I had called Kim Andersen (sports director at Lidl-Trek, ed.) and talked about Skjelmose or Mads Pedersen. It could be to hear how their start has been, or how they could be approached. So, of course, it's a huge advantage that we (Jesper and Michael Mørkøv, ed.) are related.”

The question is, of course, can the national coach tell us what kind of information he discusses with his brother about Vingegaard? “No, I can't. It may not be anything specific. But it's more of an exchange of how he thinks about cycling and what he needs,” he says, unfortunately unable to give us an answer.

In addition to tactics and other race-related matters, the Mørkøv brothers also discuss the logistical challenges surrounding their team leader. “Jesper also helps prepare Jonas' equipment. That's part of the whole logistics behind it. It's fantastic that I have someone I know in Jonas' cycling team, so I don't have to arrange things with strangers,” says the national coach.