Cycling star Jonas Vingegaard, who has won the Tour de France twice and is currently recovering from an April race crash, was not selected to represent Denmark in the men’s road cycling team at the Paris Olympics. The tournament, which takes place after the Tour de France, will feature four riders: Mads Pedersen, Mattias Skjelmose, Michael Mørkøv and Mikkel Bjerg.
Pedersen, 28 years old and the most accomplished rider in the group, has made history by becoming the first Danish man to win the world title in the road race in 2019. He also has stage wins in all three Grand Tours – Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España.
Despite missing out on Olympic selection, Vingegaard expressed his desire to compete in the Tour de France, which is set to take place from June 29 to July 21. Although he has been unable to compete since sustaining injuries in an April 4 race crash followed by surgery, Vingegaard hopes to be back in peak condition for the race and potentially win his third consecutive Tour victory alongside other cycling greats such as Chris Froome, Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx.
The men’s road events at the Paris Olympics will occur on July 27 with the time trial and on August 3 with the road race. It is common for Tour de France contenders to skip the Olympics to allow for adequate rest following the demanding three-week tournament. Vingegaard has never participated in senior world championships before but another Danish cyclist Tadej Pogacar aims to make history by winning both Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in same year.
