Visma-Lease a Bike sports activities director Merijn Zeeman has modified the parameters and targets that may determine if Jonas Vingegaard will experience the 2024 Tour de France,
saying the Danish star’s participation hinges on being “aggressive”, relatively than “combating for yellow.”
Vingegaard was concerned in a horrible crash in Itzulia-Basque Country in April and has since been in a race in opposition to time to recuperate from his accidents.
The newest twist within the drawn-out ‘will-he-won’t-he’ Tour de France saga was supplied by Zeeman throughout an interview with the Cycloo Wielercafe podcast.
If confirmed, this is able to represent a decreasing of the bar from that set by earlier feedback within the Visma-Lease a Bike group. Earlier this yr the Dutch squad had acknowledged that the double Tour de France winner would solely seem on the startline every week in Firenze if he was 100% prepared and able to battle for a 3rd straight win.
Those expectations and limitations seems to have modified.
“The Tour will not be like a serious time trial the place the most effective rider at all times wins,” Zeeman advised the podcast when questioned a couple of attainable shift of their standards.
“So there may be additionally a tactical part to it, and whether or not you’ll be able to keep out of bother. So we’re going to take a call.”
Zeeman confirmed that because it was final acknowledged that the Visma-Lease A Bike chief would should be able to battle for the maillot jaune, the group was in a unique place after extra riders suffered crashes and setbacks.
“Yes, I mentioned that two weeks after these falls. We have now moved on fairly a while and we should still must refine this,” Zeeman mentioned.
“It is a really troublesome puzzle. We have a whole lot of accidents, so we nonetheless have some work to do to type issues out.
“Wout Van Aert is already so much additional alongside, he has already ridden the Tour of Norway, however Jonas has after all been in a tricky scenario because the Itzulia Basque Country race.”
“He is now coaching. But coaching is one factor, however whether or not you may be aggressive within the Tour is one thing else.”
“We should not but able to say that he’ll begin if he can get on the rostrum. But someday we are going to take inventory [and decide]: will he go or will he not? How is he doing now? What can we count on?”
Zeeman identified that Vingegaard’s personal opinion was key in that decision-making course of, and recalled that the crash, which led to the Dane spending two weeks in hospital and never racing since early April had severe penalties.
“It wasn’t only a damaged collarbone,” he mentioned. “We should not neglect that it was a crash with a really massive influence. There’s additionally the concern of one other fall. After the Dauphiné I drove on to Tignes, so I talked to him about it so much.”
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