Translated from danish:

During Paris-Nice, Nicki Sørensen pointed out something he saw in Jonas Vingegaard. TV 2 Sports' cycling expert had a feeling.

Perhaps more of a feeling that has grown even more in the past week, when Jonas Vingegaard won the Tour of Catalonia overwhelmingly.

\- After the crash that Jonas Vingegaard had in the Basque Country... I don't think we saw the same Vingegaard until last year. He was missing something, and I don't know what it was. But it wasn't a Vingegaard at the same level as before the crash. But now he's maybe back there - or even better.

TV 2 Sport has asked Jonas Vingegaard about Nicki Sørensen's words. Whether it is really only now, two years after the crash in the Basque Country Tour on April 4, 2024, that the Dane can begin to improve - instead of having to fight his way up to the level of previous times.

\- That's the feeling I have too. I feel like I've spent the last two years fighting my way back to that level – and in some way the Jonas I was before my crash, says Jonas Vingegaard.

\- I feel, without consciously knowing it, that it has had a greater influence than I thought.

When we reach the level that Jonas Vingegaard has, it's all about the small margins, and it can be the small margins that make a difference in certain situations.

Thue Kvorning, physiologist

In the violent crash, Jonas Vingegaard broke several ribs, punctured a lung and broke a collarbone.

A crash so violent that Vingegaard thought he was going to die.

Can stay in the body for a long time

Although Jonas Vingegaard has said that he did not suffer any permanent injuries, according to Nicki Sørensen, it makes sense if the Dane feels that the crash has still been with him in recent years.

"It takes so long to recover from a crash like that with the collapsed lung and so much muscle tissue that was damaged. It could take two years, and that could be what we're seeing now," says the former cyclist.

Thue Kvorning has clinical research experience and worked for 15 years as a sports physiologist at Team Denmark. He has not spoken to Jonas Vingegaard about the crash and therefore will not comment on the specific situation for the Thyboen.

In the past two years I've just had a hard time finding the level that I actually think I was at before says Jonas Vingegaard.

But Kvorning says that there should be nothing from the above injuries that continues to hinder Vingegaard - however, there may be both mental and physical aspects that have taken time after Vingegaard's crash.

\- Tissue and muscle tissue and bone tissue are something that never heal completely to the point it was before. But that's why you can measure in various tests that we are back - but in fact there are a few percentages that are not back, says Thue Kvorning, who is now a physiologist and training supervisor at the Center for Military Physical Training.

\- When we are at the level that Jonas Vingegaard has, it is the small margins that are important, and it can be the small margins that make a difference in certain situations. But as time goes on, he may get closer and closer to his peak, and suddenly it may culminate, and he may feel in many ways that he is back.

That's the feeling Vingegaard has now.

Two stage wins in both Paris-Nice and the Tour of Catalonia. Two overall victories and the first Dane to win both races.

**The quest to rediscover the level**

Jonas Vingegaard made a comeback in the Tour de France that same year. He won the 11th stage – a redemptive and moving victory – and came second in the world's greatest cycling race.

But his body was tired like never before, and he was also mentally exhausted. Vingegaard won the Tour of Poland, despite a less than convincing effort, but then stopped the season in mid-August.

In 2025 he won the Tour of Algarve, was put back and retired with a concussion in Paris-Nice, finished second in both the Dauphiné and the Tour behind Pogacar and then won the Vuelta. A big year for the Visma captain.

Yet the feeling is with the two-time Tour winner that he is only now truly back where he can take steps towards a new level.

\- In the last two years I've just had a hard time finding the level that I actually think I was at before. Since you are (after, ed.), you struggle, and that's your focus. Now I'm back at it and can start to enjoy it a little more, maybe.

And you can tell that from Vingegaard – that he is happy. "Media-wise, he has never been better," TV 2 reporter Søren Reedtz wrote in a column .

Vingegaard is currently oozing with profits.

**Believe in improvement**

But how does it actually fit together?

During the 2024 Tour, Jonas Vingegaard said he was riding his best wattage ever . He and Tadej Pogacar broke records on several climbs. Last year, the wattage figures showed that Vingegaard was even better.

One thing is that cycling is constantly evolving in terms of equipment and small adjustments that riders can make in diet, nutrition and training. Another thing is that wattage is not everything, Thue Kvorning points out.

\- The whole package can easily set him back for periods, despite him showing good wattage figures. Then it could easily be that he hasn't been 100 percent back as a cyclist.

But Visma sports director Jesper Mørkøv believes that Jonas Vingegaard is definitely now.

\- There was something that needed to be repaired – and something that needed to be returned to. That is also why in the season when he makes such a great return in the Tour de France (2024, ed.), the batteries were flat for a long time afterwards, explains Jesper Mørkøv to TV 2 Sport.

\- He has built on a lot of that, so now I actually think we are seeing a lot of the level he could have built on back then if the crash hadn't happened.

Jonas Vingegaard himself also feels that he can improve. Both his general top level, but of course also throughout the season, which offers the big goals of the Giro d'Italia in May and the Tour de France in July.

\- I feel in good shape – not the absolute best, but we made a plan with the team that I will progressively get in better shape throughout the year. So I feel pretty convinced that I still have more in me, says Vingegaard after winning the Tour of Catalonia, which he became the first Dane ever to win.

Now a week of less training awaits before Jonas Vingegaard goes to an altitude training camp ahead of the Giro d'Italia.

After the Giro, more altitude training awaits before the Tour de France and the meeting with Tadej Pogacar.

For two years Vingegaard has been fighting: - Now I'm back