Visma-Lease a Bike have urged fans to give riders "as much space and peace as possible" as they confirmed that Jonas Vingegaard crashed in training on Monday after an amateur cyclist reportedly tailed him on a descent near Malaga.
"Jonas Vingegaard crashed during training on Monday. Fortunately, he is okay and did not sustain any serious injuries," read a post from the team on X.
"In general, as a team we would like to urge fans on bikes to always put safety first. For both your own and others’ wellbeing, please allow riders to train and give them as much space and peace as possible."
The story started to surface on Monday night after a local rider, Pedro Garcia Fernandez, posted to his Strava account detailing what he claimed happened in the incident with an image of the back of the Dane.
"You can be a professional, but you can also be humble. Jonas fell while trying to drop me down the Fuente la Reina trail, and when I stopped to ask how he was, he got angry with me for following him down the hill," read Fernandez's caption.
"He was going fast to drop me and ended up on the ground. I don't make a living from this, and I'm just an amateur like most people, so I don't understand his anger as a professional about it."
Another amateur rider commented on the post to add more to the eyewitness accounts, recalling the bloodied condition Vingegaard was left in after hitting the ground.
"You both passed me coming down, and as I was almost at the last bend, I found Jonas by the guardrail, his face bleeding in two places," read the comment from S.Enduro.
"He must have hit it hard to drag his face along the ground. I stopped too and asked him if he needed help, and he told me no, to go away, very angry. Now I understand. It's clear he's the professional and responsible for how he goes up or down, but I also think that people like him, who are professionals and have so much at stake, should be given their space and respected.
"They risk their lives, their salaries, and the livelihoods of many people around them. It seems to me he felt a bit pressured and went down faster than he should have on a road he doesn't know well."
Riders being filmed in southern Spain while training has become commonplace in today's social media world, with amateurs wanting to get a glimpse of the sport's biggest stars while they pass them, often challenging themselves to keep up.
Just recently, Mathieu van der Poel was filmed miraculously avoiding a crash in training after an amateur challenged him to a sprint and his bike almost went from under him.
Fernandez was challenged in his comments, with one person saying, "It's understandable that he'd be angry if he crashed because of you," but he defended his behaviour in responses, stating how he would have dropped back if the Dane had asked him to.
"If I was bothering him by being behind him, he could have said something and I would have dropped back without any problem," he said.
"I understand that everyone wants to be behind him because of who he is, but I was coming downhill and he passed me, and I stuck to him just like I would to anyone else who passed me on a descent. At no point did I turn around to chase him, not at all.
"I respect Jonas like any other cyclist who's training, and just because he's won two Tours and a Vuelta doesn't mean he should be respected more than any other cyclist. And I can stick to him like glue because it's my right and nothing prohibits it."
Happy to escape without serious injury, Vingegaard will likely be avoiding amateurs and looking to train on quieter roads as he builds up to his season debut at the UAE Tour on February 16. In the summer, his key goal will be attempting the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double.
