{"id":60419,"date":"2025-04-29T14:24:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T14:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60419\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T14:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T14:24:11","slug":"visma-and-vingegaard-bullish-on-tour-de-france-comeback-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60419\/","title":{"rendered":"Visma and Vingegaard Bullish on Tour de France Comeback Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”><\/p>\n

Jonas Vingegaard<\/a> is in a race against time to catch up to Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> in time for the Tour de France<\/a>, and Visma-Lease a Bike<\/a> is backing him to do it via a wafer-thin competition schedule.<\/p>\n

After all, who needs to race when you can go to altitude instead?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know this approach works for him,\u201d Vingegaard\u2019s trainer Tim Heemskerk said. \u201cSome people may say not racing much is \u2018a risk,\u2019 but for us it\u2019s proven to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that people want to see Jonas race more before the Tour de France, like at Tour de Romandie, for example,\u201d Heemskerk told Velo.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we make a plan that gives us a bigger chance in the key period that matters most to Jonas and all us who work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vingegeaard revealed last week he will race just once before he squares off with Poga\u010dar<\/a> and the rest of the \u201cBig-4\u201d at the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

Despite earlier rumors, there\u2019s no replacement stage-race to fill the void left when a concussion thwarted Vingegaard\u2019s plan<\/a> to race the Volta a Catalunya.<\/p>\n

Heemskerk defended a training decision that drew every reaction possible from social media physiologists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe considered all options for preparing the Tour de France. He could race Romandie and go for the win there, but what does that mean later? The Tour is the race that matters most to him, and us at the team,\u201d Heemskerk said in a WhatsApp call.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know Jonas doesn\u2019t race a lot, but he wants to spend time with his family and be away from all the hecticness of racing. We respect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paris-Nice crash and concussion \u2018a big setback\u2019
\n\"\"Vingegaard hit his face in the crash at Paris-Nice and was later diagnosed with concussion. (Photo: CHRISTINE POUJOULAT\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 in June will be the first time in three months that Vingegaard will race after he crashed and abandoned Paris-Nice in mid-March.<\/p>\n

The eight-day tour will complete a long road back for the two-time maillot jaune.<\/p>\n

Heemskerk revealed to Velo the 28-year-old only returned to full training last week after he finally shook off the hangover of his brain injury.<\/p>\n

All told, the Tour de France star was away from all-things-intensity for five full weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big setback,\u201d Heemskerk said. \u201cThe leaders of a team want to win races, so it was a blow mentally and physically when you do months of training over winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, we\u2019d spent a lot of winter working on Jonas\u2019 muscle mass and explosivity too, he lacked that after last year,\u201d Heemkerk said, referring back to his rider\u2019s brutal crash in the Basque Country.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re now with an opportunity to start back earlier than we used to. Many riders will rest now, but Jonas is back training.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Vingegaard is BACK!<\/p>\n

Next up: Criterium du Dauphine
Then: Tour de France#cycling<\/a> | #couchpeloton<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/KMbegH6G0p<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) April 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Dauphin\u00e9 is the first big date in Vingegaard\u2019s summer schedule.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll line out against the monument-munching might of Poga\u010dar<\/a> for the first time this year at a June race seen as a harbinger of Tour de France form. Remco Evenepoel<\/a> throws another challenge into this crucial tune-up tour.<\/p>\n

After the Dauphin\u00e9, Vingegaard will spend another three weeks in thin air for a \u201cnow-or-never\u201d finishing camp in Tignes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think Jonas is in a good place to make this work. At Paris-Nice he was in good shape already. Not in Tour de France shape, but he\u2019d not been to altitude yet,\u201d Heemskerk said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know once he\u2019s at with the team at Sierra Nevada [in May] we\u2019ll get him to a really high level,\u201d he continued. \u201cThis program is what worked when he won [the Tour de France] in 2022 and 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018You cannot mimic peloton skills in training\u2019
\n\"PogacarVingegaard bounced back from his crash last year in the Basque Country to finish second at the Tour de France. (Photo: BERNARD PAPON\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Yet Heemskerk knows that no amount of oxygen-deprived intervals will ready Vingegaard for the broiling intensity of the bunch.<\/p>\n

Vingegaard will have only 18 race-days on his 2025 resume when he lines up for the Tour de France. Look back further, and he will only have 26 days of competition since he took the step below Poga\u010dar last July on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar and Evenepoel will see similar pre-Tour totals in what\u2019s a reflection of the new norm to train rather than race.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see many riders race really well with just training preparation. We saw that with Jonas last year. He didn\u2019t race at all before the Tour,\u201d Heemskerk said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we know there are things like peloton skills that you cannot mimic in training. Both are important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeloton skills\u201d and the mastercraft of moving around the bunch might be the elephant in the Visma-LAB boardroom.<\/p>\n

\n

Jonas Vingegaard was in a lot of pain after the finish, looks like he hurt his left wrist quite bad. According to some info, he was also dizzy after the crash. With a cold and rainy weekend ahead, he might not start tomorrow\u2019s stage\u2026#ParisNice<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/bxLTbTJdlD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Vingegaard suffered devastating injuries and a five-week layoff last year in that descending crash in the Basque Country.<\/p>\n

His highly consequential spill 10 months later at Paris-Nice threw him back to the sidelines.<\/p>\n

If Vingegaard is left with any nerves or hesitancy, the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 will have to act as an eight-day therapy session.<\/p>\n

The opening week of the Tour de France across the sinuous, complex parours of Normandy and Brittany won\u2019t take prisoners of the timid.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t control Poga\u010dar, but you can prime the physiology of Vingegaard
\n\"Pogacar\"Visma-Lease a Bike knows Poga\u010dar is on another level. (Photo: Garnier Etienne \u2013 Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely that tricky parcours and narrow descents will be the least of Vingegaard\u2019s problems in July.<\/p>\n

Heemskerk acknowledged Vingegaard\u2019s archrival Poga\u010dar has been \u201cincredible\u201d this year. The whole Visma-Lease a Bike entourage also previously recognized that the team needs to \u201cclose the gap\u201d<\/a> to the world champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoga\u010dar can win in almost any situation unless it\u2019s a bunch sprint. It\u2019s special to see,\u201d Heemskerk said last week. \u201cBut what he does will not impact our approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we will make an analysis of his strengths, but he can do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while the Tour de France isn\u2019t a w\/kg contest, Heemskerk was keeping faith that the physiology counts for Vingegaard\u2019s big rematch with Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why he\u2019s planning to make sure the Dane turns up for the French D\u00e9part a physiological monster.<\/p>\n

As Vingeaard\u2019s long-time trainer, Heemskerk has mapped out a training framework based on their winning preparations in 2022 and 2023. Tweaks have been made to reflect lost race days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no point worrying about what Poga\u010dar is doing,\u201d Heemskerk told Velo. \u201cWe control what we can control. And that means making a good head-start on Jonas\u2019 fitness, then considering what we might need to change after what we see in the Dauphin\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith already a good training week this week and the upcoming period before we go to Sierra, we are making a head start on our rivals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The horrifying realization as the W\/kg numbers came out latter that day that even though Vingegaard crushed every other climbing performance in history he still got brutalized by Pogacar. 7 W\/kg for 40 minutes is hard to comprehend<\/p>\n

\u2014 Natskyge (@natskyge) April 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Poga\u010dar admitted after his solo blitz on Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge last weekend that he needs downtime after his audacious, arduous spring classics campaign.<\/p>\n

Evenepoel bounced straight from Li\u00e8ge to the Tour de Romandie, and Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d<\/a> \u2026 he\u2019s racing the friggin\u2019 Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Vingegaard will be living like a monk and riding like a madman in his Tour de France boot camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a few weeks he\u2019ll be ahead of schedule compared to previous years,\u201d Heemskerk said. \u201cHe missed out on racing but he\u2019s got a head start on training and bodyweight before he goes to altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s nicer to need one more little step than to already be top of the mountain\u2019
\n\"\"Heemskerk said Vingegaard was already in good shape at Paris-Nice. Now he\u2019s got to catch back and hit Tour de France form. (Photo: DAVID PINTENS via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Dauphin\u00e9 is seen as the final level exam ahead of the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the race where every acceleration and micro-move is scrutinized and extrapolated to what comes a few weeks later.<\/p>\n

But Heemkerk suggested they won\u2019t get the jitters at any disappointment in mid-June.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the Dauphin\u00e9, we go back to Tignes to become better, or to simply hold fitness, so we\u2019re not good too early. The Dauphin\u00e9 is really important because we will get an analysis of Jonas, but also of the competitors. And the three weeks after that give us a lot of time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019ve seen Jonas in really good form before the Dauphin\u00e9 I get a bit nervous. It makes me worry if he can keep his shape through to the end of the Tour,\u201d Heemskerk continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nicer to need to make one more little step than to already be at the top of the mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vingegaard has 10 weeks to get out of the foothills and onto the upper slopes of Heemskerk\u2019s fitness mountain.<\/p>\n

The summit push begins in Lille on July 5.<\/p>\n