Vingegaard, the accident and rebirth: “I was coughing blood, I even thought about quitting cycling”

Cycling also changes the calendar hanging on the wall. January 1st is traditionally a day for photos on social media with the new jerseys for many runners who have changed teams. Many teams also changed colors. Not Visma-Lease a Bike, which remains in its typical yellow and black, with a jersey very similar to that of the 2024 season. Its leader, Jonas Vingegaardapproaches the year with great ambitions, even if his plans are not yet outlined: his first participation in the Giro d’Italia remains possible. A decision will presumably come after the route is revealed on January 13th.

The injury and the comeback

Vingegaard’s 2024 was a dramatic year, but also of rebirth. The fall to Tour of the Basque Countrywith fractures of seven ribs, a sternum, a collarbone, a finger and a collapsed lung, risked compromising his career. However, Vingegaard also feared for his life. In a very intense end-of-year interview with DR, the 28-year-old Dane returned to those dramatic moments. “It was the first time I fell and I didn’t try to get back on the bike straight away – Vingegaard’s words in a two-person interview with his wife Trine Hansen –. I coughed up blood and I thought I was dying of internal bleeding. In those moments I thought it was all over. I cried a lot. I kept thinking about my daughter Frida, Trine, and our yet-to-be-born son. The idea that I would abandon them all was unbearable. When I was still on the ground, after the fall, I thought: ‘If I survive, I’ll end my career here anyway’.”

The return by bike

“In the end,” added the winner of the 2022 and 2023 Tour, “my wife and I understood that I should continue to be a cyclist, because it is my passion. But when I was in hospital, I really wasn’t thinking about the Tour de France. When you’re in intensive care, you can’t even go to the bathroom, let alone think about the Tour… We talked a lot about the way I have to behave in the race. We agree that if I realize that the situation is too dangerous, I slow down and rather try to recover afterwards. I did it too during the Massif Central stage of the 2024 Tourthe one I then won. Pogacar had attacked just before a descent and I didn’t want to take any risks. So, I wasted some time there. On the issue of falls, I have always been very casual. I thought that serious things would never happen to me, because I am good at riding a bike and because I know how to avoid accidents. But at a certain point it just happens.” Trine Hansen also spoke on the topic of safety: “Cycling has become more dangerous. Runners are getting better and better equipment, but there is still no better protection. I think it’s the most important riders who have to take the initiative, in dangerous moments: if someone like Jonas gets to the rear of the group and says ‘this piece is too fast and dangerous’, it will certainly have some effect.”