Tour de France 2024: Jonas Vingegaard says defending title is ‘first victory’ after suffering serious injury

Published 27/06/2024 at 21:40 GMT

Jonas Vingegaard begins the 2024 Tour de France as the man to beat after claiming the yellow jersey for the last two years. However, the Dane suffered serious injuries in a shocking crash in April and said "the first victory is that I'm here, everything from now is a bonus". The Tour begins on Saturday, June 29 in Florence, Italy and Vingegaard admitted he "wasn't sure if I was going to make it".

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Two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard says his first victory is being able to compete following a serious injury and that “everything from now on is a bonus”.

The Dane goes into the 2024 event after winning the last two in a row, but suffered a punctured lung and fractured ribs in a horror crash at the Itzulia Basque Country in April that left his involvement in doubt.

With that in mind, the Visma-Lease a Bike leader is keeping things in perspective ahead of the Grand Depart in Florence, Italy on Saturday, June 29.

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“It’s been a long fight and at many points I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it," Vingegaard told Eurosport. "So I’m very happy that I’m here.

“Whether it’s for the victory, I guess we’ll see in three weeks. But the first victory is already that I’m here. Everything from now on is a bonus.”

Vingegaard looks set to face a tough fight for the yellow jersey this year from the likes of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

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But the Dane insists he is not feeling the pressure of coming in as the man to beat.

“This year I’m less nervous than previous years," Vingegaard said. "Not that I’m very nervous normally.

“I’m going in with the mindset of doing GC, but it could also be that after two weeks, it has shown I’m not good enough, or the opposite. We will see.”

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Vingegaard also reflected on the Basque Country crash and his subsequent recovery in a separate interview.

“I had to take a long break after my crash. I had a lot of injuries that needed to heal before I was able to train properly,” he said.

“It's one thing when you can start riding outside, it's another thing when you can start to do proper training. It was mostly about making it in time for the Tour de France.

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"I think in that situation, you just think about fighting back rather than feeling sorry for yourself.

“And that's what I did, and what me and my family have done for the last three months, trying everything we could to get ready for this race.

"Of course, if I hadn't crashed, I would definitely say I'm here for victory. But things have changed. I still have the hope that I'm good enough to fight for victory at least. But I guess we will see in the coming three weeks."