There are too many question marks over the form of Jonas Vingegaard to say that he is definitely ready to win the Tour de France, says his Visma-Lease a bike team.
Team coach Mathieu Heijboer told Cycling Weekly this week that while the defending champion was "really motivated", too many unknowns remained over his condition to say that he has reached race-winning condition.
"He's OK, and he's really motivated," Heijboer said. "For sure, we think he will be competitive. But there are still too many insecurities [over form] to say he's ready to win."
As well as form-related concerns, Vingegaard was hit by a further blow after key mountains lieutenant Sepp Kuss was ruled out of the race having failed to recover from Covid.
The 27-year-old Dane, who has won the Tour the past two years running, has not raced since being badly injured in a mass pile-up in April's Itzulia Basque Country, which saw him break numerous ribs and a collarbone, and puncture a lung.
Part of the issue with his upcoming Tour de France participation has been the lack of training Vingegaard has been able to do on the time trial bike, because of his injuries, Heijboer explained. This is all the more pertinent this year, with a mountain time trial on the final stage that could easily end up deciding the race.
"With the big injuries that he had, he hasn't been able to train a lot on that bike," he said. "So we will not be fully prepared. We did what we could, but for sure it's not optimal."
Vingegaard is not the only one of the 'big four' who has had to deal with sub-optimal Tour preparation. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) were both caught up in the same crash as Vingegaard and suffered their own injuries.
Even Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who looked on scintillating form when he won the Giro d'Italia in May, may find that having one hard Grand Tour performance already in the bag counts against him at the Tour de France. That said, he must surely be considered the Tour's out and out favourite now.
Heijboer added that the only question marks hanging over Vingegaard's performance were due to lack of preparation, which does at least suggest that there are no physical issues left over from his crash injuries.
The Dane has been training hard at a Tignes altitude camp and should reach the race in useful form – after all, team boss Richard Plugge has already said that he would not be picked for the race "if he was not 100 per cent".
In reality he probably isn't quite 100 per cent, but he could find that last half a percentage point by riding himself into form throughout the race – in which case he'll have to survive the first mountainous days to stay within shouting distance of yellow.
