Jonas Vingegaard reflected on the 2025 season and looked ahead to the upcoming year in an interview with the French L'Equipe. According to the Danish leader of Visma | Lease a Bike, skipping the Tour de France in the coming years is not an option. He also discusses his chances in the biggest climbings classics and the upcoming World Championship.
"It was a pretty good year. Not the best I've ever had, because I think my 2023 season was better," Vingegaard looks back on his season. In 2023, the climber won the Tour de France for the second time and finished second in the Vuelta behind teammate Sepp Kuss.
Vingegaard won the Vuelta this summer - photo: Cor Vos
"But finishing second in the Tour and winning the Vuelta is definitely not a bad season," Vingegaard continues when asked to rate his year. "My goal was to win the Tour, so from that perspective, I didn’t fully achieve my mission, but I did win the Vuelta. I’d say: 7 out of 10, maybe even an 8."
Skipping the Tour de France is not an option
Despite Vingegaard having to acknowledge Tadej Pogacar as superior in the Tour de France two years in a row and openly flirting with the possibility of taking part in the Giro d'Italia, the Dane says skipping the Tour of France in the coming years is not possible. "Maybe, one day, if I can no longer compete for the overall win, but for now those thoughts aren’t there,” he states.
"I think for me — and maybe also for Tadej — the Tour is so big that teams with a contender for victory want that rider to start, even if we ourselves wouldn’t want to. We don’t have a definitive plan for next year yet, but the Tour will definitely be part of it. We’ll see if the Giro will also be included."
Will we see Vingegaard in one-day races?
At the recent European Championships, Jonas Vingegaard appeared in a one-day race for the first time in a long while. The two-time Tour winner even made his debut for the Danish team at elite level. Unfortunately for him, it was a debut to forget as Vingegaard dropped early in the race and did not finish.
Vingegaard disappointed at the recent European Championships - photo: fotopersburo Cor Vos
The result at the European Championships is typical of Vingegaard’s relationship with one-day races. The last one-day race he finished was the 2022 Giro di Lombardia (16th). After that, he only competed in the 2024 Clasica San Sebastian and the road race at the recent European Championships. Both times he recorded a DNF.
Still, Vingegaard realizes there are indeed one-day races that should suit him. “Cycling isn’t just about stage races. There are also big one-day races, even for climbers like me: Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the World Championships this year or next year (in Canada), and the Giro di Lombardia,” he points out. Whether he will show himself in these big races in 2026 is not yet clear.
| Rank | Rider | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tadej Pogačar | 983 |
| 2 |  Remco Evenepoel | 928 |
| 3 |  Jonas Vingegaard | 913 |
| 4 |  João Almeida | 887 |
| 5 |  Isaac Del Toro Romero | 882 |
| 6 | Wout van Aert | 878 |
| 7 | Primož Roglič | 871 |
| 8 |  Mathieu van der Poel | 871 |
| 9 |  Paul Magnier | 861 |
| 10 |  Tom Pidcock | 858 |
