“I thought I was going to drown in my own blood or die of a hemorrhage”: Vingegaard's emotion as he recounts his heavy fall in April

All the emotion of Jonas Vingegaard when he looks back on his fall. Screenshot X and Youtube. – DR and Andres Maese

Second in the Tour de France in 2024, Jonas Vingegaard returned to the painful episode of his very heavy fall during the Tour of the Basque Country in April, where he thought he lost his life.

We understand a little better why he shed a few tears during his victory at Lioran, during the 11th stage of the Tour de France 2024. “It's a lot of emotions, coming back from this fall, it means a lot to me, had said Jonas Vingegaard, very moved. Everything I've been through in the last few months, I could never have succeeded without my family.”

On Saturday, speaking to our colleagues from Danish public television, DR, Tadej Pogacar's runner-up in the 2024 Tour de France and winner of the Grande Boucle in 2022 and 2023, the Dane returned to his heavy fall at the Tour of the Basque Country last April.

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“I thought that if I survived that, I would end my career”

After explaining all the tension present during a descent 35 kilometers from the finish during the fourth stage, Vingegaard explains that he imagined the worst, after coughing up blood. “It's the first time I haven't tried to get back on the bike,” he describes. I thought I was bleeding internally, that I was going to drown in my own blood or die of bleeding out.”

“So yeah, I thought it was over there,” he continued, before getting emotional when talking about his wife and family, explaining that he cried a lot in the hospital because he thought his wife would have had to live without me”.

A traumatic episode for the Visma Lease a bike team rider, who even thought about quitting cycling after his fall. “When I was lying on the ground, I thought that if I survived this, I would end my career, he says. But later, my wife and I talked about it a lot and we thought that I should continue. Because it's still my passion.”