Jonas Vingegaard had an unlucky spring but ultimately found his best level once again in the summer, only it wasn’t enough to beat Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France. Despite this, the Dane manage to carry some of his form over to the Vuelta a España where he was still able to win despite not having his best level. Danish coach Michael Morkov hoped for a similar level at the climber-oriented European Championships, and to this day remains very surprised with the outcome of that race.
On the Café Eddy podcast, Morkov did not hide how much of a surprise it was to see his leader on paper get dropped before the action truly even began in the peloton. “I almost fell out of the car when I saw Jonas drifting back through the convoy 100 kilometers into the race”.
Vingegaard simply did not have the legs on the day, but the distance in which he was dropped from the peloton meant he was far from competitive on that day, and couldn’t even begin to pose any sort of threat to the likes of Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel. It was a disappointing end to the Visma rider’s season, even if expectations weren’t the highest on the one-day race that the World Champion eventually won.
“We’re talking about a man who wins the Vuelta a España. Who wouldn’t want him on their team for the Europeans? Jonas told me he felt good before the race. It’s true that recovery after both the Vuelta and the Tour takes time, but I was aware of that from the start,” Morkov said.
Is the rainbow jersey possible in 2026?
The former pro naturally wants Vingegaard in his lineups for the big races, and with next year’s world championships taking place in another climber-oriented course in Montreal, he could aim for a potential rainbow jersey. But only if he is able to show his very best level, which hasn’t happened so far outside of the stage-races. “I saw a very, very disappointed Jonas after the race. If nothing else, I can only hope he’ll be so fired up that next time he rides for Denmark, there’ll be something to prove,” he concluded.