At long last, and with much speculation, it has finally been confirmed that two-time winner, and defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard will once again race the biggest event in cycling. Visma-Lease a Bike announced Thursday that the Danish star has recovered enough from his crash in the Tour of the Basque Country to fight for a good result.
Vingegaard has been training at altitude for the past few weeks, and according to the team’s statement, he said, “I am excited to start the Tour. The last few months have not always been easy, but I thank my family and Team Visma | Lease a Bike for their unwavering support. We have worked together to get to this moment, and of course, I am very excited to see where I stand. I feel good and very motivated.”
The team’s Sporting Director, Merijn Zeeman, said, “I am very proud of Jonas and the coaching team. He is coming back from a serious injury. In the last few weeks, he has shown what a champion he is, both mentally and physically. Of course, we don't know how far he can go yet. We are being cautious because he has not been able to race, and his preparation has been less than ideal, to say the least. But he will be there, healthy and motivated.”
Joining Vingegaard at the Tour will be nine-time stage winner Wout van Aert, who is also recovering from a serious injury following a crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen. Van Aert said, “I am really looking forward to the Tour de France. Of course, this was not the plan initially, but after my development in the last weeks, I really wanted it, and the team agreed. Our main goal is, of course, to ride a top classification with Jonas. I want to contribute to that with an excellent team.”
The rest of the Visma-Lease a Bike team for the Tour de France will include Sepp Kuss, Tiesj Benoot, Wilco Kelderman, Matteo Jorgenson, Christophe Laporte, and Jan Tratnik. If everyone stays upright and healthy, this is a very balanced team that could do a lot in this Tour, which is exactly what everyone wanted to see. In fact, Tadej Pogačar has already “liked” the social media post by Visma-Lease a Bike announcing their team.
The team also released a special edition Renaissance jersey for the Tour, which is very different from their traditional yellow and black. Let the games begin!
Micah Ling is a freelance writer who lives in the mountains of Colorado. She splits her free time between mountain biking and trail running.
