Jumbo-Visma sheltering Jonas Vingegaard from ‘pressure and demands’ – but say he will race again in 2022
Jumbo-Visma sporting director Grischa Niermann says Jonas Vingegaard will race again in 2022 – but only after the Tour de France champion has had a sufficient “physical and mental break”.
His triumph saw him paraded in front of thousands back in his native Denmark, and made him the subject of huge media interest.
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As such, Niermann and Jumbo-Visma have been keen to shelter the 25-year-old from his new-found star status ahead of his return later this year.
Vingegaard has been confirmed to ride the Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium between October 29-30 – alongside Britain’s Mark Cavendish – but is it not yet known whether that will be his first event back, and what other races he will incorporate into his calendar during the remainder of 2022.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly at the ongoing Vuelta a Espana, the final Grand Tour of the year, Niermann said: “I don’t think he [Vingegaard] has had a hard time, but of course the Tour really demanded a lot from him, and probably all of the festivities afterwards asked even more of him.
“He worked towards the Tour for months and then he won it. It came with a lot of pressure, with a lot of demands from the fans, from our sponsors, from the Danish public, from the media, and now he needed a little break.
“I don’t think there is a problem or that he had a hard time; I think it’s normal that you need a little bit of a mental and physical break.
“We help him because if we weren’t denying all the requests for him, he would still be riding around Europe, seeing all of our sponsors and doing media stuff.
“It’s a lot and he cannot do everything.
“So I think for him the best mental rest he can get is being with his girlfriend and daughter, being at home and having some rest.”
“He’s at home training and he will build up now towards what will be the end of the season.
“He’s not done, and for sure he will race before the Tour next year, and he will also race again this year.”
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