"First walking, then cycling on rollers, and then..."; Visma | Lease a Bike on Vingegaard's recovery plan

Jonas Vingegaard was finally able to leave the Basque hospital last Tuesday after spending over a week and a half there, but he still has a long way to go to reach peak form or even basic fitness. Team director Frans Maassen discussed this with Danish TV2, who are of course very curious about the exact condition and future plans of their Tour de France winner.

After the team leader's severe crash in the Basque Country, the team did everything to protect the privacy of the employee — because that's essentially what Vingegaard is. "It must have been very hard for Jonas to be in the hospital for so long, so we are glad he has now been discharged. His punctured lung was the biggest issue, and it had also filled with blood, but I'm no specialist. Besides, he had broken his collarbone, some ribs, and a finger, but the lung was the biggest concern," says Maassen.

Vingegaard will focus solely on his recovery for the next two weeks before the team and rider know more about the further course of the rehabilitation process. "Jonas will need to start by walking, then he can cycle on rollers, and finally, he will cycle on the road. That's the procedure, but it's too soon to say exactly how and when. The most important thing is that he recovers well, and then we'll make new plans."

Maassen must repeat himself: "It's hard to predict, we'll know more in 2 weeks"

Maassen thinks that Vingegaard will only race the Tour if he is in top form, and not just 'to aim for a top-ten finish', as he put it. "But as I said: it's hard to predict right now, because he's had a very severe fall. I know Jonas is a unique guy who can recover quickly, but I'm not a doctor and it's far too early to make such decisions. We'll know a bit more in two weeks," the team director concludes with TV2.