Visma-Lease a Bike have said they will continue to listen to Jonas Vingegaard and make changes in the way they work, after the Dane revealed he was ready to walk away from the team and cycling last winter.
The Visma team is undergoing huge change as it also searches for a new title sponsor to fund their superteam, Grand Tour contender status, with Marc Reef about to replace Grischa Niermann, who has opted to move to Lidl-Trek.
Vingegaard revealed he made demands for change to his training and race programmes in an interview with Danish television channel TV2.
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"I said last year that if this was how it was going to be, I couldn't be in it anymore," Vingegaard said.
Reef confirmed that Visma has listened carefully to Vingegaard.
"I think everyone has been able to tell since the winter that he’s happy, basically every moment he’s been racing. Jonas is very open and feels right at home; actually, everything has gone really well so far," Reef told In de Leiderstrui.
"We’re always in talks with him, including at the end of last year. That’s how the programme was put together, the one that’s now been rolled out, with the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France as the two main goals."
Vingegaard described the talks as a first step, with more to come. After winning the Giro d'Italia, he spent a few days with his family in Rome and then time at home in Denmark before training at altitude in Tignes with his teammates.
"We’ve taken a step in the right direction, but it’s clear that it’s just one step," Vingegaard said.
"I think that in general you should look at it more individually, what suits the individual rider best.
"In order for cycling to become a sustainable sport again, it is probably more the direction to go that you create individual programs for all riders. If it is hard to be away for such a long time, then you have to do something else, and that is what we have done for me this year."
Reef promised more dialogue, with the Dutch sports director set to oversee race strategy and race programmes in his new role as Head of Racing.
"We’re always in dialogue with each other, so we’ll be reviewing his programme this coming winter as well," Reef said.
"After the Tour, we’ll discuss that together and then we’ll be able to share a bit more about it."
Vingegaard has spent two seasons working to get back to his best after a life-threatening crash at the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country race. Last summer his wife Trine sparked a huge debate by suggesting that the demands of professional cycling were becoming too much.
He is very close to his family. He kisses a family photo on his handlebars whenever he wins a race and always thanks them for their support.
Matteo Jorgenson revealed to Cyclingnews in January how Visma had listened to their riders and changed the way they work as a team.
"The management sat down last fall, and they thought a little bit about what we can improve, and they definitely realised that they want to listen to our desires a little bit more this year," Jorgenson revealed.
"Jonas asked many times if he could do something different and approach the Tour in a different way, and I honestly applaud them for it, because it's not an easy thing to do when you know you have something that works."
Vingegaard slipped to 3:36 down on Tadej Pogačar after stage 10 to Le Lioran and is only 30 seconds ahead of third-placed Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
"We are here to win and that's also how we motivated Jonas, we also spoke about it yesterday, to keep fighting to the line and that's something that he did, so no regrets," Reef said after stage 11.
"At this moment, Pogačar is a lot stronger, and big congrats to him, but we are not in Paris yet, and we will keep fighting – but we also have to be realistic of course."
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