“I’m glad I lined up and tried. But I’m most of all glad I didn’t ride the Worlds – that would have been an even bigger disaster,” he told Feltet with a small smile. “I didn’t think it was possible for me to go to Africa. I had ridden both the Tour and the Vuelta, and I’m honestly happy I didn’t go to the Worlds. It would have been a waste of my time and everyone else’s.”

A season that pushed him beyond his limits

Vingegaard has been open about the toll his Vuelta a Espana triumph took on his body, and how it left him unable to train at all in the crucial weeks before the championships. “I wasn’t able to train for two weeks because I was simply too tired. Around the time of the Worlds I did my first training ride. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to – I just couldn’t.”

Despite a few encouraging sessions shortly before the Euros, his condition simply wasn’t there. “Of course we hoped I could do better. The training up to the Euros actually went okay and that gave us some hope, but it didn’t work out.”

Yet the Dane believes the disappointing showing served one important purpose: it silenced the recurring suggestion that he avoids national team duty by choice.

“Of course I would have liked to do better. But I lined up, and I’m actually happy about that. It also proves why I’ve withdrawn the other times. It’s because I’m exhausted and have nothing left to give,” he assesses. “I hope that instead of people saying ‘Jonas can’t be bothered with the national team’, they now understand there’s a reason I don’t line up.”

Ambition for 2026 – but with the right preparation

Far from being put off by his bruising experience, Vingegaard insists he still wants another shot at international selection — but not under the same conditions. “If I were to ride the Euros or Worlds, I wouldn’t do it if I’d raced both the Tour and the Vuelta. I’d want to prepare properly.”

With the 2026 World Championships offering a more manageable calendar layout, he isn’t ruling out a return in Danish colours. “The Worlds is definitely a race I’d like to ride next year, but it depends on how the rest of my season looks.”

Vingegaard weighs in on DCU crisis: “It’s a real shame”

Alongside the discussion of his own form, Vingegaard also addressed the Danish Cycling Union’s financial crisis — a situation that recently forced the temporary collapse of the national mountain bike programme and prevented young riders from attending the World Championships in Rwanda.

“It’s a real shame that things have turned out like this. It mostly affects the talents because the elite riders get sent to the Worlds anyway. It’s a pity they’re not being sent. It’s a bigger showcase for them. I hope they get things under control and find more sponsors and more money.”

While stars such as Mads Pedersen, Mattias Skjelmose and Jakob Fuglsang have already taken part in DCU’s Ride for Denmark fundraising initiative, Vingegaard is unsure whether he can take on a similar role given his already overloaded schedule.

“If I can help in some way, I will. But it’s hard to find the time – I’m under enough pressure as it is. I don’t really see that I have the time for it. I don’t know if I can help in any meaningful way,” he says. “As I understood Ride for Denmark, it’s that they can join some rides, and if I’m there as well, it gives them something.”

A brutally honest reset before 2026

Vingegaard’s reflections paint the picture of a rider who pushed himself beyond his natural limits in 2025 — and who is determined not to repeat the same mistake. His Euros collapse may have been painful, but it has shaped a new clarity for the seasons ahead.

With proper preparation and a more balanced schedule, the rainbow stripes could yet become a genuine ambition in 2026. And this time, he insists, he wants to arrive ready.