Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) has said he would advise his children against pursuing professional cycling careers, calling the sport "extremely dangerous" and questioning whether current safety efforts are doing enough to reduce the risks.
The double Tour de France winner made the comments at the launch of his wife Trine Vingegaard Hansen's new recommendation app, MyPreffy, in Copenhagen on April 22, in an interview reported by Feltet.dk.
When asked whether his two children might follow him into the sport, Vingegaard told them "I definitely think I would advise my children not to become cyclists," he said. "First of all, it is extremely dangerous, and it also means many days away from home. And with the development in cycling, what will it be like by then? Will it be even more dangerous? I cannot see, with what is being done now, that it is becoming less dangerous."
Trine Vingegaard Hansen, speaking alongside her husband, backed his willingness to raise the issue publicly. "It is absolutely fantastic that he dares to take responsibility and say it, because he is someone people listen to," she said. "Otherwise nothing changes. And when he is aware of it, I also know he takes his precautions when he races, if there are slightly unsafe conditions."
She added that the couple's children should be free to choose their own paths, and that carrying the Vingegaard surname into cycling would bring its own burden. "They are big shoes to fill if you are going to walk in your father's footsteps, and I would not wish that pressure on my children," she said.
A pattern of public criticism
Vingegaard's comments in Copenhagen continue on from remarks he made back in March, also to Feltet, at Paris-Nice where he was very critical of the race organisers route choice describing the technical, road furniture and pothole filled roads of northern France as "unworthy of a WorldTour race."
Last year he said that he would tell his children no if they asked to race as a professional. Pushing for riders, organisers and the governing body of the UCI should take responsibility for improving conditions.
It is very understandable that Vingegaard has these views as he was involved in the horrific crash at the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country that took out almost all of the major Tour de France contenders for that year and left the Dane with multiple broken ribs, a fractured sternum, broken collarbone and two punctured lungs adding that he feared for his life in the aftermath.
He has moved away from criticising just an individual race and just focused his force on the sport in its entirety as he strives to make the pro peloton a safer place for him, his fellow riders and those who come after him.
But the Vuelta a Espana winner may not have to worry about his son going into cycling as he added that his son Hugo has gifts elsewhere. "We have seen that Hugo is good at football, so we should push a little in that direction," he said.
It's worth properly framing the claim: Vingegaard is not retiring, and he is not calling for others to leave the sport. He is saying that, given what he knows from the inside, he would not recommend the career to his own children. For a rider of his stature, that remains a verdict on where professional cycling stands.
Cover image credit: Billy Ceusters
