Jonas Vingegaard adds Paris-Nice to 2026 programme

Vingegaard crashed a few weeks ago during a descent in Andalusia and later fell ill. The two-time Tour de France winner then decided to skip the UAE Tour in order to fully recover, only returning to racing once he felt fit again.

“I’m happy to be back on the start line at Paris-Nice. It’s a prestigious race with a rich history,” Vingegaard said in a team press release.

Visma | Lease a Bike have won the race in each of the past two years with Matteo Jorgenson, but the American will now switch his focus to Tirreno-Adriatico. “As a team, we have a title to defend here,” Vingegaard said.

The Visma leader believes he is ready to race again after his disrupted build-up. “After my crash and illness, I took the necessary time to recover. Now I feel ready to start racing again, and after a long winter of training I’m really looking forward to it.”

At Paris-Nice, Vingegaard is set to face riders including Juan Ayuso, João Almeida, Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin, who all showed strong form last week at the Volta ao Algarve. Mattias Skjelmose and David Gaudu are also expected to take part.