Vingegaard explains Euros fiasco, but valuable lessons make rainbow jersey in 2026 a possibility

Jonas Vingegaard closed his season with overall victory at the Vuelta a España and second place at the Tour de France. An outstanding report card for the Dane, even if there were a few blemishes along the way. The biggest stain came at the European Road Championships, which turned into a fiasco when he was dropped early and abandoned. It’s been an important lesson for the Visma | Lease a Bike climber.

Vingegaard was riding an elite race in the colours of the Danish national team for the first time, but in France he simply couldn’t make an impact. Still, he doesn’t regret the attempt. He told Danish outlet Feltet: “I’m happy that I got up and tried,” he said. “But above all, I’m happy that I didn’t ride the Worlds — that would have been an even bigger disaster.”

The Dane skipped the World Championships road race in Rwanda. "Because I thought it would be impossible for me to go to Africa. I’d ridden both the Tour and the Vuelta, and honestly I’m glad I didn’t go to the Worlds. It would have been a waste of my time and everyone else’s.” The World Championships road race in Kigali was scheduled just two weeks after the end of the Vuelta, leaving him almost no time to recover.

Proper preparation was out of the question. “I couldn’t train for two weeks because I was just too tired. Around the time of Worlds I did my first ride again. Not because I didn’t want to before, but because I simply couldn’t. Of course we hoped I would do better. The training before the Euros actually went well and gave me hope, but it turned out differently.”

The result hurt, but he doesn’t shy away from admitting that. “Obviously I’d have liked to do better, I admit that. But now I’ve tried it, and I’m actually happy about that. It also proves why I’ve stayed away on other occasions: because I’m just exhausted and have nothing left to give. So I hope that instead of always saying ‘Jonas doesn’t care about the national team’, people now understand there’s a reason why I’m often not there. That seems clear to me.”

Despite the disappointment, the Euros have whetted his appetite for more. Vingegaard wants to return in Danish colours, whether at a European Championships or a World Championships — and next time he hopes for a very different outcome than in France this October.

For that, some sacrifices will be needed. “It’s clear that if I want to ride the Euros or Worlds, I wouldn’t also do both the Tour and the Vuelta. I’d really prefer to prepare properly for it. Worlds is definitely a race I’d like to do next year, but that also depends on how the rest of the season looks.”