(Brussels) Reigning Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard will be supported by some of the best cyclists in the world as he tries to defend his title.
The Jumbo-Visma team has revealed the composition of its team for the biggest cycling competition on Monday. It offers a nice balance between experience and talent, in addition to good protection for Vingegaard for flat stages, as well as significant help in the mountains.
Wout van Aert, Dylan van Baarle, Sepp Kuss, Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte, Nathan Van Hooydonck and Wilco Kelderman appuieront Vingegaard.
The Tour de France will start on Saturday from Bilbao, Spain.
Jumbo-Visma has won six events and won the polka dot, green and yellow jerseys in 2022. The Dutch team has already won a Grand Tour this year, when Primoz Roglic got his hands on the Giro in May. Roglic skipped the Tour de France.
Vingegaard dethroned 2021 champion Tadej Pogacar last year with some memorable performances in the mountains.
Jonas Vingegaard has given up participating in the 2023 World Road Cycling Championships which will take place in Glasgow in early August, his federation announced on Monday.
“Vingegaard is not in the team because he said the World Championships weren’t possible for him due to his post-Tour racing schedule,” coach Anders Lund told TV2 television after having unveiled a first list of four selected.
Denmark will be represented in the online race scheduled for August 6 by Mads Pedersen, Mattias Skjelmose Jensen, Kasper Asgreen and Soren Kragh Andersen. Four other runners will join them.
“The Danish national team will look great. I have no doubt about it,” Anders Lund said.
Asked about Vingegaard’s absence from the Worlds for the second consecutive year, the coach said he was taking “it very calmly”.
“And I understand that Jonas is clearly focused on the Tour de France at the moment, and that’s what matters to him,” he told TV2.
