During the Tour, Trine gave striking interviews to Politiken and Jyllands-Posten in which she warned that the demands placed on the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader risked pushing him beyond what was sustainable.
“Knowing Jonas as I do, I’d say the team is pushing him too far now. I’m afraid he’s burning the candle at both ends,” she said at the time, adding that “people sometimes forget the human being behind the athlete – and how to get the best out of him.”
She highlighted how the constant cycle of altitude camps was affecting his ability to reset: “Jonas doesn’t recharge on another three-week altitude camp with the team. He needs to be at home in Denmark, with us, to feel truly himself.”
Her broader point centred on the importance of routine and calm. “He’s deeply attached to his routines. Sometimes he needs to reset in the calmest surroundings possible, just with his family. That’s a huge part of who he is and why he’s successful.”
In Jyllands-Posten, she also expressed frustration that the family learned of his concussion at Paris-Nice through television coverage rather than directly from the team: “Everyone on the team knows we – his family – only heard about it through the television. It’s just bad form not to send a message to let us know he’s okay. I simply can’t understand it.”
Her most pointed reflection came when discussing family life since becoming parents: “In many ways, the countdown to the end of his career began when we had our first child.”
Vingegaard details the scale of his own workload
Months on, Vingegaard’s latest comments highlight similar pressure points — particularly the sheer volume of time he spends away on training camps.
“Some years I’ve been on training camp in December, January, February, May and June. And on top of that, I’ve ridden a huge number of races. So it is pressing the lemon, and it is hard. That’s where I think we could do things in a smarter way,” he says to Ekstra Bladet.
He added that the length of these training blocks is often the hardest part to absorb: “I find it tough personally to be away for three weeks.”
Push for family access to be written into contracts
Vingegaard has also reiterated his view that riders should have the option — formally written into contracts — to bring family members to certain training camps. Crucially, he argues this should not be something reserved for star names.
“Yes, of course. And then on training camps it’s about finding places where you can have the family with you,” he said. “I think it is very individual. Some have no problem leaving their family at home for a long time, while it’s difficult for others.”
With consecutive team camps scheduled in December and January, the Dane enters another season where workload and home life will again sit at the centre of discussion — themes that continue to mirror the concerns Trine first voiced during the Tour.