Vingegaard sidelined for weeks after crash, but Visma | Lease a Bike issues warning: 'We are one step ahead of our rivals'

Vingegaard opened his season with overall victory at the Volta ao Algarve before heading straight to Paris-Nice. After a strong winter, he seemed right on track, but a crash on stage 5 turned everything upside down. Vingegaard suffered a hand injury but, more critically, a concussion. As a result, the team leader was unable to train at full intensity for five weeks and had to skip the Volta a Catalunya. Only in the past week (at the time of writing) has Vingegaard been able to properly resume his build-up.

The two-time Tour de France winner has already been training in the French Alps and will head to Sierra Nevada for another altitude camp in May. He is not expected to race again until the Critérium du Dauphiné in June. "We know this approach works for him," Heemskerk told Velo. "Some people might say that racing so little is a risk, but it has proven successful for us. Of course, people would love to see him race more before the Tour de France, but we are building a plan that gives us the best shot during the most important part of the season, the time that means the most to Jonas and to all of us."

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Of course, Vingegaard did not sit still for five weeks after his crash at Paris-Nice. Visma | Lease a Bike had also put in a lot of hard work on his conditioning over the winter. According to coach Tim Heemskerk, the lack of race days is partly due to Vingegaard’s well-known desire to spend more time with his family. "He wants to step away from the chaos of racing and be with his family, and we fully respect that," Heemskerk told Velo. "Right now, we believe Jonas is in a good place to make this work. He was already strong at Paris-Nice, but not yet in Tour shape, since he had not been to altitude yet."

With two altitude camps planned before the Tour de France, everything should fall into place. "Once he is with the team at altitude in Sierra Nevada in May, we believe he will reach a high level. That same approach worked in 2022 and 2023," Heemskerk said, referring to Vingegaard’s back to back Tour victories. "We are seeing more riders who can perform at a high level through training alone, just like Jonas did last year in the Tour. But it is also important to race, because there are skills you simply cannot replicate in training."

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Vingegaard will need a perfect buildup if he wants to beat Tadej Pogacar this summer. Still, Visma | Lease a Bike is not solely focused on the Slovenian. "What Pogacar does does not change our approach," coach Tim Heemskerk told Velo. "We might analyze his strengths, but he can do almost everything, so there is no point worrying about it. We focus on what we can control. Maybe we will have to adjust a few things after the Dauphiné, but with this training block and the Sierra Nevada camp, we believe we will have a physical edge over our rivals."

Heemskerk also points out that Vingegaard is already further along compared to previous seasons. "In a few weeks, he will be ahead of where he was in past years. He has missed some racing, but he is ahead when it comes to body weight for the altitude camp. We do not want him to peak too early and while the Dauphiné will be an important check for Jonas and his rivals, there is still plenty of time in the three weeks after. At altitude, we aim to take another small step forward."