Jonas Vingegaard laughs at the idea now, but if cycling hadn’t worked out, he figures he might have ended up in a tidy office somewhere, sleeves rolled up, buried in spreadsheets. As he tells Danish broadcaster Midtvest, numbers were always the safe option — maybe even the likely one.
Before the yellow jerseys and podium ceremonies, Vingegaard was a business student in Denmark, more focused on economics than elevation gain. He says he’d always imagined himself “doing something with numbers,” and the banking world seemed like a natural fit. It’s not hard to picture him at a desk instead of on a climb.
But life nudged him in a different direction. Renovating his own house introduced him to hands-on work. To his own surprise, he liked it. Really liked it. He admits that he has grown increasingly fascinated by craftsmanship. Especially carpentry. Could he become a tradesman when he finally steps off the bike? “It’s possible,” he says. “We’ll see.”
Jonas Vingegaard is grateful to Tom Pidcock’s mother
He turns 29 in December, and plenty of racing still lies ahead. Two Tours and a Vuelta already sit on his résumé. The Visma – Lease a Bike rider also hasn’t ruled out chasing a Giro d’Italia start in 2026.
“Winning all three Grand Tours or the Tour de France in 2026? I think I’d rather win the three Grand Tours,” he told La Dernière Heure. “The Giro is still left.”
Even so, the question of life after cycling isn’t one he pushes aside anymore. He doubts he’ll stay in the sport professionally. More likely, he says, he’ll simply enjoy being home with his family and figure out the rest when the time comes.
Vingegaard also looks back at where it all started. As a young rider, he watched Alberto Contador obsessively. The Spaniard — one of the rare riders to win all three Grand Tours — was the template he studied. Vingegaard now has two of the three himself. While he doesn’t dwell on legacy, he knows he’s already achieved more than he once dared imagine.
For those chasing the dream behind him, his advice is simple: keep at it. Not all great riders were prodigies, he notes, and he certainly wasn’t. “Just believe in it — and make sure you enjoy it.”
Although the Dane did do an exhibition criterium in Japan, his season ended somewhat ignominously. He pulled out of the Euro championships early, after skipping the worlds. However, he isn’t ruling out the 2026 worlds in Montreal–a tough course that would suit him. Vingegaard has never raced the world championships as an elite–only under-23. “The worlds are definitely something I’d like to race next year,” he said, “but it depends on how the rest of my season looks.”