Jonas Vingegaard is sitting second overall as of the first rest day of the Tour de France.<\/p>\n
He almost wasn\u2019t there at all.<\/p>\n
Vingegaard revealed to Danish outlet TV2<\/em> on Sunday that he nearly quit cycling at the end of 2025 after reaching a mini-burnout with the sport.<\/p>\n The four-time grand tour winner only kept racing after he laid down the law to long-time team, Visma-Lease a Bike.<\/p>\n \u201cI said last year that if this was how it was going to be, I couldn\u2019t be in it any more,\u201d Vingegaard told TV2<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s why we changed some things.<\/p>\n \u201cI also think the team realized that this was how it was, and they could tell I wasn\u2019t happy last year. They accepted that we had to change something, and we did,\u201d Vingegaard said Sunday.<\/p>\n Vingegaard didn\u2019t specify the exact nature of the compromise he reached with Visma-Lease a Bike for 2026.<\/p>\n However, he notably reinvented his race schedule to win the Giro d\u2019Italia on debut and has cut back on time at altitude. He\u2019s currently chasing archrival Tadej Poga\u010dar at the Tour de France as he targets the notorious Giro-Tour double.<\/p>\n Vingegaard said he\u2019s satisfied with his situation but hinted that more work might be needed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have taken a step in the right direction, but it is clear that it is only a step,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Vingegaard is a noted family man. The husband and father has repeatedly spoken of his desire to spend more time at home, and unlike most modern pros, he\u2019s not relocated to a training mecca like Andorra or Nice.<\/p>\n The 29-year-old told TV2<\/em> he found the 24\/7 demands of the modern WorldTour draining.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a cyclist, you feel like you\u2019re constantly on a diet. You always have to think about your weight, and you\u2019re always out training,\u201d Vingegaard said. \u201cA lot is demanded of you. It takes a toll on your body and your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Visma-Lease a Bike has been under the microscope in the past 6 months.<\/p>\n The Dutch superteam has been put on the ropes by a series of notable losses to its roster.<\/p>\n Two-time grand tour winner Simon Yates suddenly retired last autumn. Top director Grischa Niermann and Vingegaard\u2019s coach Tim Heemskerk left the squad this spring. Heemskerk said he was \u201cstruggling to apply his creativity\u201d with the Killer Bees and now works with Vingegaard\u2019s rival, Remco Evenepoel.<\/p>\n Vingegaard told TV2<\/em> the changes he made with Visma-Lease a Bike have worked so far.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m much more motivated this year, and I\u2019m much happier being a cyclist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n However, he did suggest the modern sport needs a change in thinking. The increasing professionalization and reducing margins are pushing riders to the brink.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that in general you should look at it more individually, what suits the individual rider best,\u201d Vingegaard said. \u201cIn order for cycling to become a sustainable sport again, it\u2019s probably more the direction to go that you create individual programs for all riders.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s hard to be away for such a long time, then you have to do something else,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what the team has done for me this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Vingegaard is under contract with Visma-Lease a Bike through 2028. Both he and the team no doubt want to keep it that way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/jonas-vingegaard-nearly-quit-cycling-in-2025\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_1775-2.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated July 13, 2026 05:19AM Jonas Vingegaard is sitting second overall as of the first rest day of the Tour de France. He almost wasn\u2019t there at all. Vingegaard revealed to Danish outlet TV2 on Sunday that he nearly quit cycling at the end of 2025 after reaching a mini-burnout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2040640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2040640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2040640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2040640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2040640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Vingegaard more motivated, happier, and still chasing Poga\u010dar<\/h2>\n
![\"Vingegaard](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_9660-1200x841.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")