Jonas Vingegaard confirms he will ride Vuelta a España
While Tadej Pogacar weighs up his options, Jonas Vingegaard has thrown his hat into the ring for the Vuelta, which starts in four weeks' time in Turin.
Jonas Vingegaard has confirmed that he will line out at the Vuelta a España, which gets under way in Turin on August 23. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider last participated in 2023, when he placed second overall behind teammate Sepp Kuss.
Vingegaard is about to place second overall at the Tour de France for the second successive year, extending the remarkable sequence that has now seen him and Tadej Pogačar occupy the top two places for five straight editions. He won the race in 2022 and 2023.
Last year, Vingegaard won the Tour de Pologne after placing second overall at the Tour, but he ended his season shortly afterwards. This time out, he is set to chase victory at the Vuelta after acknowledging that he is coming out of the Tour fresher than he did in 2024.
“I feel like the Tour is so much bigger than everything else and so draining, but to be honest, if I compare it to last year, I feel a lot better,” Vingegaard told Eurosport ahead of stage 20. “Last year I was completely dead after the Tour and now it’s a lot better.”
Vingegaard then indicated that he was turning his attention to the Vuelta. “First I will take an easy week, but I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
Vingegaard will finish the Tour a little over four minutes down on Pogačar, losing the bulk of that ground with subdued displays in the stage 5 time trial in Caen and the summit finish at Hautacam a week later. Vingegaard looked sharper in the third week, but was unable to trouble Pogačar and the only time he has gained on his rival across the Tour so far came in the form of two bonus seconds atop La Plagne on stage 19.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG pencilled the Vuelta into Pogačar’s schedule at the start of the season, but the Slovenian indicated on Saturday that a final decision on his participation will not be taken until after the Tour.
“We will decide a couple of days after the Tour when everything is calm and heads are clear, then we make decisions for the next races,” Pogačar said.
