Jonas Vingegaard has spoken for the first time since returning to Denmark after he crashed out of the Tour de France, admitting he has yet to get back on the bike. However, he seems ready to race on, at least until 2028, dismissing a question about possible early retirement.
Vingegaard was a special guest at the start of stage 2 of the Tour of Denmark that started in his hometown of Glyngøre, with a huge crowd gathering to celebrate him becoming the first Danish rider to win all three Grand Tours.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider crashed out during stage 15 of the Tour de France, fracturing his right collarbone. He quickly travelled home to undergo surgery but has still to confirm if he will race again in 2026 after targeting the Giro and the Tour.
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"I'm feeling better. It's not really painful anymore. I can use my arm now. It's not quite like before, but it will be," Vingegaard said according to a series of live updates via Danish television channel TV2 and other media.
Vingegaard has been seen out shopping in Glyngøre and enjoying time with his family but has yet to train on the bike.
There have been suggestions that he may be part of the Danish national team for the UCI World Road Race Championships in Montreal, Canada at the end of September, but Vingegaard was cautious about any return to racing after an intense 2026 season. He has already raced for 51 days, attended multiple altitude camps and won Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya, and the Giro.
"I needed a break after the Tour. It's been a tough year and a tough bike race, so I needed a break because there's been so much" he said.
"Whether I will ride any more races this season? That hasn't been discussed yet. That also depends on my recovery.
"I'm here in Glyngøre with my family in my hometown, watching a bike race. I think that's pretty special," he said to Belgian media HLN and Sporza.
"This is a very big moment for me. It's nice to have to start here in my hometown. Now, my teammates, they can see the roads I'm training and how the area looks like."
Vingegaard will turn 30 in December and has suffered several major crashes during his career but insisted he is motivated to race again.
He denied a rumour that he may retire after 2028 when his contract with Visma-Lease a Bike comes to an end.
"I haven't decided when I will retire. Time will tell," he said.
"If by the end of 2028 that I feel like I don't want to do it anymore, then I'm going to retire, but it might also be that I'm going to continue. I don't know at this point.
"There are still many races that I haven't won, and that's also something that motivates me," he added.
"We've also focused on that this year and so I've won three races this year that I haven't won before. We can hope that next year I can also win some races that I haven't won before."
Vingegaard made history by winning the Giro d'Italia and becoming one of only eight riders in history to win all three Grand Tours. But he remains humble and grounded.
"I still have a hard time understanding it and seeing myself in that category that is so historic. I'm still just Jonas, so it might be a little hard to understand," he said.
"You don't really dare to believe you've won a Grand Tour until you finish stage 21. Anything can happen, and we saw that in the Tour this year. All of a sudden you're lying on the asphalt with a broken collarbone."
