Vingegaard starts Paris–Nice without trusted ally Heemskerk: “Tim is hard to replace”

Paris–Nice will not be “just” a tune-up. “I’m here to win, otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Vingegaard told Sporza. “That’s basically my ambition every time I line up for a race. It’s my first race of the year, so there’s always some uncertainty about my shape. I’ve had a good winter and trained well. But the other guys have already been racing. They know better where they really stand.”

Vingegaard’s early-season build-up initially went a bit off course. In training, the Dane crashed after an over-eager fan got in the way. “It looked worse than it was,” he downplayed it now. “The day after, I was already able to train again, so it wasn’t such a heavy crash. Of course it’s never nice to fall, but in the end it didn’t have many consequences for me.”

“After that crash I did get ill as well, so I had to change the plans a little,” he continued. “But that wasn’t a major setback.” It did force him to skip the UAE Tour, which was supposed to be his first race of the year. Still, the two-time Tour de France winner believes he can be competitive at Paris–Nice. “Training has gone well and I hope my form is good. I’m ready to race.”

Vingegaard recently had to say goodbye to coach Heemskerk after eight years of loyal collaboration. “I worked really well with Tim during that period. He was more than just my coach. He is a good friend,” Vingegaard said. “His departure is a shame, because I always really enjoyed working with him. I had complete trust in him, so of course I was sad when I heard he was leaving.”

“Tim is hard to replace,” the Visma | Lease a Bike leader admitted. “He’s one of the best coaches out there. But I have to move on. Now I have a new coach in Mathieu (Heijboer). We obviously follow the same philosophy. And I’ve known Mathieu for eight years too, so that connection is already there. That’s not really a problem.”

For Vingegaard, Paris–Nice is a key step towards the Giro. He will race the Italian Grand Tour for the first time. “First of all, I wanted to try something different in the build-up to the Tour,” he explained. He believes it can only be beneficial for the Tour de France. “I’ve always noticed that my absolute power in a second Grand Tour is higher. So maybe that will help me reach an even higher level in the Tour this time.”

That does not mean he will ride the Giro simply as preparation. Vingegaard could complete a remarkable hat-trick. “I really want to go for the win in the Giro as well,” he said. “I’ve already won the Tour and the Vuelta. So of course the Giro is a big motivation for me too. Not many riders have done that before me, so it would be nice.”