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Jonas Vingegaard got the green light to leave a Spanish hospital and return home after 12 days in care following his harrowing crash earlier this month at the Itzulia Basque Country.
The news comes as good news for Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike, but the timeline on the two-time Tour de France champion’s recovery and his future calendar remains unknown.
“Hello everyone, it’s time for me to leave hospital,” Vingegaard said Tuesday in a team release. “I want to thank all the medical staff for taking good care of me. And I want to thank everyone for their moral support. I have received a lot of messages, presents and drawings. Heartwarming!
“Now it’s time to fully recover again,” Vingegaard said. “Thumbs up!”
The extent of Vingegaard’s injuries put a big bold question mark over his program for the rest of the season.
The 27-year-old broke several ribs, fractured his collarbone, and suffered a bruised lung and a collapsed lung. His 12-day stay in hospital this month included a surgery to fix-up his collarbone.
Vingegaard was scheduled to spend time at altitude in May before landing down to sea-level for the Critérium du Dauphiné in June ahead of his Tour de France title defense.
Sport director Merijn Zeeman told Het Nieuwsblad this weekend that top brass at the team is mulling over its options as it monitors Vingegaard’s recovery.
Visma-Lease a Bike already canceled Vingegaard’s previously scheduled trip to altitude next month and has indicated he will only start the Tour de France in two-and-a-half months time if he’s 100 percent fit.
“All we can do now is think of as many scenarios as possible,” Zeeman told HLN of Vingegaard’s schedule. “Hopefully we can flesh this out in concrete terms in the coming weeks.”
Good news! A message from Jonas ❤️
, ’ . . … pic.twitter.com/5wI6Ot4uJR
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) April 16, 2024
The multi-rider crash on stage 4 of the Basque Tour already had impacts on the calendar of some of cycling’s biggest stars.
Soudal Quick-Step centrepiece Remco Evenepoel will not be able to defend his title at Liège-Bastogne-Liège this weekend after he broke a collarbone and shoulder blade in the crash.
Primož Roglič avoided significant injury in the incident, but is also skipping the Ardennes classics as Bora-Hansgrohe puts priority on his full recovery and his Tour de France ambition.
Visma-Lease a Bike has already been forced to shuffle its deck of grand tour aces this spring and will be monitoring Vingegaard extra closely in the coming weeks.
The team confirmed last week that Wout van Aert would not line out for his hotly anticipated Giro d’Italia debut next month.
The Belgian baller suffered a shocking list of injuries when he was sent skittling to the tarmac in the high-speed pile-up that decimated Dwars door Vlaanderen just one week before the brutal crash that upturned the Basque tour. Frenchman Christophe Laporte will replace Van Aert for the Italian tour.