The race in opposition to time continues. A sighting of Jonas Vingegaard coaching in Mallorca this week heightened anticipation that the Tour de France champion would return to racing in time for the Grand Départ in Florence, however his Visma-Lease a Bike workforce stays coy about his participation on this yr’s race.
During a go to to the Giro d’Italia on Thursday, supervisor Richard Plugge informed Cyclingnews that Vingegaard would solely experience the Tour if he was at “100%” when the race will get underway on June 29. Plugge added that there was no exact deadline for a call on the Dane’s participation.
Vingegaard sustained a punctured lung and a damaged collarbone in a mass crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April, and he spent twelve days in hospital in Vitoria. Earlier this month, Vingegaard returned to using on the highway at house in Glyngøre, Denmark, and this week, he was noticed coaching on the Coll de Soler in Mallorca.
“He is doing nicely, he’s progressing rather well,” Plugge informed Cyclingnews. “But we have to decide afterward if he’s actually capable of be 100% at the beginning of the Tour de France. We must see the way it evolves within the coming weeks. We have good hopes, he’s progressing nicely. But we additionally wish to give him and ourselves the time to make a superb resolution.
“He is the defending Tour de France champion, he’s gained it twice in a row now. But if he goes, he ought to be 100%. The Tour de France isn’t a race the place you may go in with much less and hope. Hope isn’t a superb begin, so we should be positive he may be 100%.”
Vingegaard’s authentic Tour build-up was anticipated to characteristic altitude camps at Sierra Nevada and Tignes both facet of the Critérium du Dauphiné. His revised schedule is altogether extra fluid, although Plugge indicated that he was unlikely to race earlier than the Tour.
“Maybe we’ll add a race, however I feel we’ll get extra from coaching as a result of it’s the most effective and most managed method of working after such a crash,” Plugge mentioned.
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Vingegaard’s coach, Tim Heemskerk, just lately informed L’Équipe he hoped the rider would have the ability to return to one thing approaching a traditional coaching load this week. He additionally indicated that the plan was for Vingegaard to spend not less than a while on the workforce’s remaining pre-Tour altitude camp at Tignes. Plugge, for his half, insisted that there was no set deadline to decide on Vingegaard’s place within the Visma line-up.
“We don’t have a set deadline, it evolves,” Plugge mentioned. “At a sure second, we’ll know. “But when that second will probably be is unclear.”
Pogačar
After sweeping all three Grand Tours in 2023, Visma-Lease a Bike have been beset by unwell fortune this season. Cian Uijtdebroeks’ promising Giro debut was ended by sickness final week, whereas Wout van Aert’s Classics marketing campaign was halted by the accidents he sustained in a mass crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Van Aert, who had been slated to experience the Giro, is now in rivalry for a spot in Visma’s Tour line-up, however, like Vingegaard, his participation is contingent on his health. The Belgian returned to motion on the Tour of Norway on Thursday, coming in slightly underneath three minutes down on the opening stage.
“We have good hopes Wout can come to the Tour de France, however we’ve got to see the way it goes within the Tour of Norway and the way it evolves,” Plugge mentioned. “For us, it’s slightly bit unusual. Normally we plan the entire yr and maintain to the plan. This yr we’ve got to regulate it, however that’s additionally a part of the game.”
Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss appears the most probably man to steer Visma-Lease a Bike on the Tour ought to Vingegaard miss out, however Plugge refused even to broach the query. “We will reply to that when the Tour begins,” he mentioned.
While Vingegaard’s Tour participation stays a doubt, his chief rival Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has been in full management on the Giro, profitable 5 phases as far as he strides nearer to finishing the primary leg of his tried double. In Padua on Thursday night, Pogačar was requested for his tackle Plugge’s assertion that Vingegaard would experience the Tour provided that he was at “100%” of his situation.
“I imply, final yr I used to be additionally not at my 100% and I nonetheless went and fought for the win,” mentioned Pogačar, whose 2023 Tour preparation was hindered by the damaged wrist he sustained at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. “You by no means know what can occur. The tables might flip. But I feel Jonas will probably be 100%, so I feel we’ll see him on the Tour at this finest.”
Vingegaard has crushed Pogačar to the previous two Tours, having completed second to the Slovenian on his Tour debut in 2021. Pogačar’s placing dominance on the Giro means that he’ll show an much more redoubtable foe this July, although Plugge insisted that it was troublesome to evaluate given the calibre of the opposition in Italy.
“I feel what’s missing right here is that you simply don’t have Evenepoel or Roglič or Jonas Vingegaard to compete,” Plugge mentioned. “That’s sadly the case. We need to see within the Tour de France what the true stage is.”
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