2026 Tour: Jonas Vingegaard Doesn’t Mince Words After His Sensational Withdrawal

There is a great deal of disappointment in Jonas Vingegaard’s words in the wake of his shocking withdrawal from the Tour de France. The Dane, who was in second place in the general classification and was also in contention for the polka-dot jersey as best climber, fractured his collarbone after a spectacular crash about 20 kilometers from the finish line at Plateau de Solaison during Sunday’s stage.

“Let’s just say that, all things considered, I’m okay,” said the winner of the most recent Giro d’Italia in an interview with the Danish broadcaster TV 2 Sport. “The team and I are very disappointed by what happened, but this is cycling, and crashes are part of the game. In fact, given how it went, I can even consider myself lucky to have broken my collarbone without suffering any other injuries.”

While Vingegaard seemed to take it in stride from this perspective, the same certainly cannot be said of his feelings toward the person who interrupted his sleep between Saturday and Sunday for a surprise doping test (which, incidentally, Tadej Pogacar also underwent): “I don’t want to say it contributed to the crash, but it’s clear it didn’t do me any good,” Vingegaard stated firmly. “I’ll say it again, though: this is part of cycling, too.”

Winner of the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, Jonas Vingegaard was among the favorites heading into this year’s edition of the Grande Boucle, and at the time of his withdrawal, only Pogacar was ahead of him—though he trailed by more than four minutes. The withdrawal brings to an end his streak of five consecutive Tour podiums: in addition to his two victories, Vingegaard had finished second in 2021, 2024, and 2025, each time behind the Slovenian “Cannibal.”