Two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard will ride on this yr’s Tour de France after recovering from the intense accidents he suffered earlier within the season his workforce Visma-Lease a Bike announced on Thursday.
“The Danish two-time Tour winner has recovered enough from his crash in the Tour of the Basque Country to fight for a good result,” learn a workforce statement.
Vingegaard, 27, was hospitalised after struggling rib and collarbone fractures in addition to sustaining lung injury in a mass crash on the Tour of the Basque Country on April 4.
‘Proud of Jonas Vingegaard’
He was again on a motorbike a month later and feels assured sufficient to be on the beginning line for the June 29 to July 21 race which begins in Florence, Italy.
“I am excited to start the Tour. The last few months have not always been easy, but I thank my family and Team Visma-Lease a Bike for their unwavering support,” he mentioned in a workforce assertion.
“We have worked together to get to this moment, and of course, I am very excited to see where I stand. I feel good and very motivated.”
Sporting Director Merijn Zeeman mentioned ideas of a 3rd successive total yellow jersey needs to be placed on maintain given the seriousness of the accidents Vingegaard suffered.
“I am very proud of Jonas and the coaching team,” he mentioned.
“He is getting back from a severe harm.
“In the previous couple of weeks, he has proven what a champion he’s, each mentally and bodily. Of course, we don’t know the way far he can go but.
“We are being cautious because he has not been able to race, and his preparation has been less than ideal, to say the least. But he will be there, healthy and motivated.”
Vingegaard can be joined on the workforce by former Tour stage winner and three-time world cyclo-cross champion Wout van Aert, who can be getting back from harm after sustaining a damaged collarbone, sternum and ribs in addition to damaging a lung within the one-day Around Flanders race on March 27.
“Of course, this was not the plan initially, but after my development in the last weeks, I really wanted it, and the team agreed,” Belgian Van Aert mentioned.
“Our main goal is, of course, to ride a top classification with Jonas. I want to contribute to that with an excellent team,” the 29-year-old added.
The Visma lineup can even embrace Spanish Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss, Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson and skilled riders Jan Tratnik and Wilco Kelderman.
Vingegaard’s foremost competitor for Tour victory can be Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who gained in 2020 and 2021. Between them the pair have taken the highest two locations in every of the final three years.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
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