Vingegaard to the 2026 Worlds? - 'He got a taste for it'
Jonas Vingegaard’s first senior outing for Denmark did not last long, but it seems to have left a mark. After his DNF at the 2025 European Championships in France, the Visma leader is still keen to pull on the national jersey again, and Denmark’s coach Michael Morkov believes the 2026 World Championships in Montreal are firmly on his radar.
Speaking to Feltet.dk, Mørkøv said he has not needed to push the idea. The interest, he suggested, is coming from Vingegaard himself.
“I have not written to Jonas. He has said himself that he would like to ride the Worlds,” Mørkøv said. “One of the big successes of having him at the Europeans was that he saw what we can do as a national team and how our set-up works.
“He has clearly got a taste for riding for the national team and riding the Worlds. Very few riders look at the rainbow jersey and do not think that they would like to try riding in it.”
Montreal will host the Worlds on 27 September 2026, and the course is built to hurt. The elite men’s race combines a long approach from Brossard with 12 laps of a 13.4 kilometre circuit in Montreal, a loop that mirrors the familiar GP de Montréal layout. The decisive feature is the Voie Camillien Houde climb (2.3km at 6.2%), with the finish line set at the top. The race's 273.2km feature 3,720m of total altitude gain.
On paper, that sounds like a Vingegaard course, at least in terms of endurance and sustained climbing. The caveat is his one day record. He has been devastating in stage races on similar terrain, but he has not built the same rhythm in classics or championships.
The European Championships last season was only his second one-day race in three years, after 2024’s Donostia Klasikoa San Sebastian, which he also didn’t finish,
Denmark are not short of alternatives. Mattias Skjelmose looks a natural fit for a course like this, Mads Pedersen has shown he can live with hard climbs and still finish with speed, and Albert Philipsen could be ready to step into a meaningful role by then.
Beyond the Worlds, a broader shift is also taking shape in Vingegaard’s programme. He is reported to be set to start the Giro d’Italia this season, which would mark his first appearance in the Italian Grand Tour. Last week, Marca reported that Vingegaard and Team Visma | Lease a Bike had struck an agreement with race organiser RCS, and on Monday Feltet.dk reported it had confirmation from sources close to Vingegaard.
After the Giro, another showdown with Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France awaits in July. Vingegaard’s full race calendar is to be confirmed at the team’s media day on 13 January.
