Jonas Vingegaard will compete in the Tour de France and the Vuelta in 2025, he announced on Tuesday in La Nucia, southeast of Spain. The Dane is preparing his season there with his Visma-Lease a bike team.
Clearly beaten last summer by Tadej Pogacar, Vingegaard wants to “return to success” on the Grande Boucle (July 5-27) which he won in 2022 and 2023. “It’s the race that matters to me the most “There is something special around the Tour de France,” said the Dane.
“I am going to aim for a third victory and above all I want to be at the start with the best possible preparation and form,” added Vingegaard who, in 2024, had finished second, “already an achievement” after his heavy fall at the Tour du Pays. Basque in April.
Eight days in intensive care
“It was much worse than most people thought,” he insisted. “I had seven broken sides, a broken sternum. My collarbone was broken in three or four pieces. I had a broken finger also and both lungs were punctured I spent eight days in intensive care, twelve days in total in the hospital. Coming back in time for the Tour de France was a real victory, something I am very proud of.
The Dane, who became a father for the second time after the Tour de France, has not raced since the Tour of Poland last August, “a long break” which allowed him to “recharge his batteries”. To prepare for the 2025 edition, he will notably participate in Paris – Nice and the Tour of Catalonia. But he will not compete in the Tour of Italy in May.
As in 2023, he will follow the Tour de France with the Vuelta (August 23-September 14), where he took second place two years ago behind his teammate Sepp Kuss. There too, he will aim for “victory” in 2025.
Van Aert vise Paris – Roubaix
The other star of the Dutch team, the Belgian Wout Van Aert, will race the Giro and the Tour de France in addition to his two “big spring objectives”, the Tour of Flanders and Paris – Roubaix where he will aim for a first victory.
Also seriously injured in 2024, even twice, the Belgian thinks he has “recovered completely”. On the Giro and the Tour, he will target stages, in addition to assisting his leaders for the general classification (Simon Yates on the Giro).
This article was automatically published. Source: ats
