Jonas Vingegaard to ‘control what he can control’ as he chases ‘special’ Tadej Pogacar, says trainer Tim Heemskerk
Published 29/04/2025 at 11:27 GMT+1
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Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) will resume his season in June at the Criterium du Dauphine after nearly three months out of action following a concussion sustained at Paris-Nice. But his trainer Tim Heemskerk does not believe a lack of racing will hinder the Dane, as he shapes up to tackle the Tour de France and wrestle the yellow jersey back from Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG).
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Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is back in training following the concussion he sustained in March at Paris-Nice.
But the two-time Tour de France winner is not hurrying back to the peloton, instead choosing to complete a training block before he returns to racing in June at the Criterium du Dauphine.
That means he misses the Tour de Romandie, and will next line up against arch-rival Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG) in June, just a few weeks before the Tour de France begins, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
His trainer, Tim Heemskerk, explained to Velo why the team have taken this gradual approach - rather than trying to get the Dane back to the sharp end of racing as soon as possible.
"We know this approach works for him. Some people may say not racing much is ‘a risk,’ but for us it’s proven to work," Heemskerk explained.
"We considered all options for preparing the Tour de France. He could race Romandie and go for the win there, but what does that mean later? The Tour is the race that matters most to him, and us at the team.
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"We know Jonas doesn’t race a lot, but he wants to spend time with his family and be away from all the hectic-ness of racing. We respect that."
Vingegaard’s concussion kept him away from high-intensity training for over five weeks, and while he was on the sidelines, Pogacar was tearing up the Spring Classics and showing that he is again in world-class form ahead of the summer.
But after such a packed schedule, Pogacar could be in need of a rest - which might just allow Vingegaard to gain an advantage.
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"It was a big setback," Heemskerk said about the injury. "The leaders of a team want to win races, so it was a blow mentally and physically when you do months of training over winter.
"And of course, we’d spent a lot of winter working on Jonas’ muscle mass and explosiveness too. He lacked that after last year.
"But we’re now with an opportunity to start back earlier than we used to. Many riders will rest now, but Jonas is back training.
"We see many riders race really well with just training preparation. We saw that with Jonas last year. He didn’t race at all before he finished at the Tour, but we know there are things like peloton skills that you cannot mimic in training. Both are important."
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As for Pogacar’s form, Heemskerk was swift to pay tribute to the world champion, who has had an incredible spring, winning Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
"Pogacar can win in almost any situation, unless it’s a bunch sprint. It’s special to see," Heemskerk admitted. "But what he does will not impact our approach.
"There’s no point worrying about what Pogacar is doing. We control what we can control. And that means making a good head-start on Jonas’ fitness, then considering what we might need to change after what we see in the Dauphine."
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