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Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour de France preparations hit a speed bump after he abandoned Paris-Nice on Friday due to injuries sustained in a crash in Thursday’s chaotic stage.
The Visma-Lease a Bike leader was lucky to avoid fractures, but team brass is not taking any chances with their GC jewel.
“Unfortunately, Jonas Vingegaard will not start in today’s stage of Paris-Nice. Our medical staff has decided that it is best for him to recover from yesterday’s crash at home and focus on his next goals for the season,” Visma-Lease a Bike announced ahead of stage six.
The setback raises fresh questions about his form heading into his showdown with Tadej Pogačar at the Tour.
Also read: Vingegaard crashes and loses lead at Paris-Nice
Initial concerns were worrisome. The Dane crashed heavily midway through Thursday’s stage and told teammates that he feared a fracture. Finishline video captured Vingegaard grimacing with pain.
X-rays in a hospital visit last night revealed only a severe contusion on his left hand.
“Jonas Vingegaard has sustained a contusion of the hand after a crash in Paris-Nice. Our medical staff will decide tomorrow if he is fit enough to continue the race,” the team stated Thursday night after hospital checks.
Matteo Jorgenson — who rode back into yellow Thursday — will race to defend this title across this weekend without the Danish superstar.
Volta a Catalunya up next?
With Paris-Nice off his schedule, the question remains if Vingegaard will start his next planned race at the Volta a Catalunya starting in 10 days in Spain.
Visma officials did not reveal any specific details about how Vingegaard’s preparation and racing calendar might be impacted.
If there are no complications, he should be able to resume training within days with minimal disruption to his Tour de France buildup.
“He couldn’t use his left brake anymore”
“He was talking about how he was dizzy”Why the hell did they let him finish the stage?https://t.co/3qC2zyU46u
— Dieter Loos (@LoosDieter) March 13, 2025
Vingegaard picked Catalunya because it doesn’t pack the treacheries of Itzulia Basque Country, where a crash last year put him in the hospital and nearly derailed his Tour defense.
Catalunya — with typically milder weather and a less severe profile — is a better fit in this season’s Tour de France road map.
Altitude camps will book-end the Critérium du Dauphiné in France in June.
Visma-Lease a Bike dodges a bullet
Visma-Lease a Bike will be breathing a sigh of relief no matter what.
A serious fracture in his wrist or hand would have seen him forced off the bike for weeks.
In 2023, Pogačar crashed and injured his wrist during Liège-Bastogne-Liège, an injury that haunted him all the way into the Tour, when Vingegaard crushed him en route to a second yellow jersey.
Pogačar, meanwhile, seemed to brush off his own potentially disastrous crash at Strade Bianche and will race Milan-San Remo next weekend.
Among the other “Big 4,” Remco Evenepoel remains on the sidelines from a much more serious crash in December, and won’t race again until April.
Primož Roglič has so far avoided crashing so far this season and races next at the Volta a Catalunya.
