Vingegaard without a chance at the European Championships? Danish national coach explains why not: "He’s performed remarkably well several times"

Vingegaard did not travel to Rwanda for the World Championships cycling, where a real climber's course awaits. The European Cycling Championships, although really tough, are more suited to the classic types and less so to the lightest men. The two-time Tour winner has never shown himself in the biggest classics, which makes some experts doubt his chances.

“I don't really believe that theory,” Mørkøv responds to Feltet. He points to Vingegaard's good results in the first week of the Tour, but also in the Critérium du Dauphiné. “I think he has already performed remarkably well several times in the first stage of the races he has participated in. He did incredibly well there, and it's hard to argue that a first stage is not equivalent to a one-day race.”

In the Critérium du Dauphiné, we saw Vingegaard, who had been out of action for three months, immediately go on the attack in the first stage. The eager leader of Visma | Lease a Bike pulled the pack apart and made his rivals suffer before sprinting for victory against Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, and Mathieu van der Poel.

“He attacks deep into the final and then rides a tough sprint against Van der Poel, where he finishes second,” said Mørkøv. Vingegaard showed his newly gained explosiveness and only had to tolerate the world champion ahead of him in the sprint. “That tells me that he can certainly perform in a one-day race,” concludes the Danish national coach, who counts Mads Pedersen and Mattias Skjelmose among his other contenders.