“I said last year that if this was how it was going to be, I couldn’t be in it any more,” said Vingegaard.<\/p>\n
“That’s also why we changed some things. I also think the team realised that this was how it was, and they could also tell from me that I wasn’t happy last year. They accepted that we had to change something, and we did.”<\/p>\n
A more personalised training schedule with fewer altitude camps appears to be paying dividends, with maiden wins at Paris-Nice<\/a> and the Volta a Catalunya giving the Dane the perfect preparation for his win at the Giro.But Vingegaard<\/a> faces an uphill battle in the 2026 edition of the Tour, trailing rival Tadej Pogacar<\/a> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) by 2’42” by the time the first rest day rolled around.After the conclusion of Stage 9, Pogacar suggested that he would change the whole cycling calendar<\/a> due to soaring temperatures, while Vingegaard revealed the extent of the physical and mental toll the sport has on its athletes.<\/p>\n “As a cyclist, you feel like you’re constantly on a diet,” said Vingegaard. “You always have to think about your weight, and you’re always out training. A lot is demanded of you. It takes a toll on your body and your mind.”<\/p>\n Customising his 2026 programme to minimise time spent away from family and remedy a lopsided work-life balance has put Vingegaard in a healthier place to challenge for the greatest honours.<\/p>\n Watch Vingegaard’s best moments as Dane claims Giro crown<\/p>\n Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n But he has admitted there was still work to do before the sport became “sustainable” again.<\/p>\n “We have taken a step in the right direction, but it is clear that it is only a step,” said Vingegaard.<\/p>\n “I think that, in general, you should look at it more individually, what suits the individual rider best.<\/p>\n “In order for cycling to become a sustainable sport again, it is probably more the direction to go that you create individual programmes for all riders. <\/p>\n “If it is hard to be away for such a long time, then you have to do something else, and that is what we have done for me this year.”<\/p>\n The changes seem to have resulted in a more content Vingegaard, who noted that he is “much more” motivated this season, adding: “And I’m much happier being a cyclist.”<\/p>\n Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here<\/a>\u00a0to enjoy more content like this.Watch and stream the cycling season, including the Tour de France, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Highlights: Van der Poel storms to Stage 9 triumph as Pidcock hit with mechanical issues Video credit: TNT…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":690248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,135345,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-690247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-tour-de-france-2026","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-436682db-153a-451d-b4a7-275802079f28-85-2560-1440.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n