Jonas Vingegaard is the enigmatic man of the group. Often capable of hiding his emotions, with his eyes hidden behind his mirrored glasses even at the end of the race, he rarely lets anyone glimpse what he thinks and how he feels. In interviews his answers are always telegraphic and, at the end of each race, the only thing he wants is to hug his wife Trine and their two children. THE
The Dane, winner of the Vuelta di Spagna and second in the Tour de France, thinks that 2025 has been a very positive year for his team and that only 2023 was the truly perfect year for him. Vingegaard doesn’t speak much, but through Visma-Lease a Bike it was possible to receive his last interview, recorded inside the team bus during the training camp in Spain with his press officer.
Looking back on 2025, what season was it for you?
«I think it was a good season. Well, it certainly wasn’t my best, but it was still a good season. The Tour de France was the biggest goal of the year, and unfortunately I didn’t manage to win it, but still a second place is a great result. I certainly want more and then also winning the Vuelta di Spagna was a really big goal for me and I was happy with the result obtained.”
Has it been a good year for you and do you think the same thing for the team?
«I think it was a fantastic year for the team. Only one year was better: 2023. For the team, winning the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta di Spagna in the same year is already a great result, and then also winning the women’s Tour de France and finishing second in the men’s race is certainly something unique.”
The season started with a victory in the Algarve, then there was the crash at Paris-Nice and this prevented you from racing all the way to the Dauphiné. Was it a difficult period for you?
«No, we decided to wait: I could have raced at the Romandie or some other race, but we decided to take it easy and prepare for the Tour. It wasn’t a serious injury, even though I was out of action for about a week. Unfortunately I didn’t make it to Catalonia and it was a shame.”
How did you go from preparing for the Dauphiné to the Tour de France?
«Actually, when I started training, my goal was the Tour de France, or rather, the first race was the Dauphiné. So from there it was just a matter of starting to get back into shape: I started the retreat at altitude, and then we did the Dauphiné and immediately after the Tour de France.”
How did you feel at the Tour?
«Even better than at the Dauphiné. After the fall of 2024 I am back in shape with more or less the same power numbers as I had before the fall. We started the race very aggressively – people even complained that we were too aggressive. Looking at the race I think there were plenty of opportunities to see if we could gain some time. And obviously, maybe looking back, we could have done something different, but it’s always easy to be smart afterward. Of course we all believed in the plan we had and wanted to increase the aggression. The goal was really to put pressure on others.”
You’ve never raced too aggressively in the past: did you like this new mode?
«Yes, I liked it. It was a different way of relaunching than what we normally did in the past. I liked that it was a little more feel-based and that we were more aggressive. I’m not saying that you always have to race like this, but at least for once it was nice to try and I think it’s fair to say that we tried everything to win the race.”
You finished second with a significant advantage over third, but in the end the strongest was one.
«I think at some point I had a few bad days which made a big difference in the race, but I still believed I could win and I still believed in myself, I thought we could make up some time. Unfortunately it was not possible to recover. But it is also fair to admit that the best of this year’s Tour de France won the race. But this should also give us more motivation for next year.”
How exciting was it for you to see Wout win that last stage?
«It was really nice to see Wout win again at the Tour. Both he and I had a bad fall at the same time, and I think maybe we both had some difficulties, but then it was really nice to see him win on the Champs Elysees and I was super happy for him. Seeing Wout win is always nice and he really deserved the victory, because he fought so hard for it: his success made me want to win the Vuelta.”
How did you prepare for La Vuelta?
«First I went home to Denmark to relax a bit for a nice week and then I started again. It’s only been less than four weeks and obviously there’s not much that can be done.”
What was the plan for the Vuelta?
«We knew that there were a lot of uphill finishes and you could really get burned easily. So we chose and developed the tactics before the race, deciding to focus more on chasing stage victories towards the end. Then if there had been opportunities we would have exploited them, but we didn’t want to squeeze the whole team for the second stage, for example. Then the opportunity presented itself and I took it. On days when you feel good, you need to take advantage of it. If I look at that Vuelta from a tactical perspective, at the beginning the plan was to be conservative, but at the same time after the first rest day we also had to adapt to the new plan because we had to become aggressive and try to win the stages. So already on stage 11 towards Bilbao I put the whole team in the lead and I was still in contention to win, but then the stage was cancelled, and we did it again on stage 13. I wanted to win and I still believed I could do it, but I had to change strategy halfway through the stage to defend myself rather than attack.”
What does it say about yourself as a cyclist, that you can change strategy so quickly?
«I think going from being a defender to an attacker can be more difficult for some. You want to attack, but then it’s not possible, and then you just have to concentrate on chasing. But if you just want to chase, you suddenly find yourself having to attack and that can be more difficult. For me, it shows that I am also a very strong runner instinctively and tactically and that’s how I want to race.”
We can’t ignore the fact that you had to celebrate the Vuelta victory in the car park of the team hotel. How was it?
«In the end, I think it’s fair to say that it too was a historic celebration. But obviously what happened was also a disgrace for cycling. I also remember a few question marks over everyone’s heads when we got back to the hotel because it wasn’t very clear what was going to happen. I sat at the back of the bus and sat there for quite a while, and then the others came and we had a beer together, and suddenly I don’t remember who got on the bus and said, “Ah, we’re working on a party here in the parking lot. We’re going to try to round everyone up.” And then yes, in the end everyone arrived and for me personally it was one of the most memorable podium ceremonies I have ever experienced.”
So, what did you take home at the end of the Vuelta?
«Actually, I would say a lot of positive things. I’m really happy that there were celebrations, first of all, and also very happy with how everything turned out in the end. Of course, I would have preferred not to get sick, but I still won three stages and the Vuelta, which is also a very important race, and I’m super happy to have it in my palmares.”
You took part in the European Championships after a rather challenging season. Do you think you would have needed more rest?
«I was happy to have done the European Championships, but to be honest, looking back, maybe I needed to rest. I realized I needed a break more than I thought. After the Vuelta I had about a week of preparation and then I went to the European Championships, and the result was not what I was hoping for.”
So, what did you do to rest afterwards?
«To be honest I only had a few days of rest and then I continued training in Andorra and then I went to Japan. I did low-intensity training three or four laps a week, and then I would do intervals and keep the engine running a little: in Japan, I took my real vacation. Now I have gone to Holland and then I will work with the team in Spain.”
Do you want to tell us something about your appointments for 2026?
«No, that wouldn’t be right. We will reveal everything together with the team later.”
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