'I wasn't hurt' - Vingegaard endures crash to win Saitama Criterium

Jonas Vingegaard has made light of the crash he suffered in the early stages of the Saitama Criterium, the exhibition event run by Tour de France organiser ASO in Japan.

The Dane later escaped alone to be first across the line in the decidedly non-competitive race, with Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) taking second place.

“I just slipped, I came in a little too fast and lost control,” Vingegaard said, according to L’Équipe. “But I wasn’t hurt anywhere, so I was able to get back on quickly.”

In the finale, Vingegaard found himself off the front with his old teammate Primoz Roglic before the two-time Tour winner escaped alone with 2km to go to send the assembled masses home happy.

“It was a good day, a nice victory, a nice way to end the season,” said Vingegaard, who will spend a week on holiday in Japan with his family before returning to Europe.

“It was a very hard race, very fast and the atmosphere was incredible. There are a lot of fans here and it’s nice to be able to see how many people like cycling here. It’s been a nice experience for me to be here again.”

During his time in Japan, Vingegaard also revisited the career-threatening crash he suffered at Itzulia Basque Country in 2024. Although he made a remarkably rapid return to competition to place second in that year’s Tour de France, he said that he had only begun to return to his old level towards the end of this season.

Vingegaard was soundly beaten into second place by Tadej Pogacar at the Tour in July, but he went on to win the Vuelta a España, capping his victory with by winning alone atop Bola del Mundo on the penultimate day.

“You never really know when you have a bad crash like that if you will get back to the same level you had before,” Vingegaard said, according to AFP. “It's only by the end of this year that I can see that I’m able to push in the same way that I was before my crash.”

Vingegaard has yet to outline his racing schedule for 2026. It is expected that he will return for another tilt at the Tour, where he has never placed lower than second in six participations. It remains to be seen, however, if the Dane can be tempted into making his Giro d’Italia debut.

“We’re now in the process of doing all the evaluations,” Visma | Lease a Bike directeur sportif Grischa Niermann told Domestique last month. 

“It’s no secret that Jonas said he could imagine doing both, and that’s certainly something we are looking into now, but there’s no decision taken yet. Up to now, we don’t know anything at all about the parcours of the Giro, so it’s hard to take a decision.

“I think it’s no secret that it is certainly on his list that he would really like to win all three Grand Tours in his career, so it will happen somewhere – but I cannot guarantee you if it happens next year.”