Denmark has left Jonas Vingegaard off the list of riders selected for Paris 2024. The great Dane is recovering from the serious crash he suffered two months ago, on 4 April, during the Tour of the Basque Country. His goal is to be ready for the start of the Tour de France, which starts on 29 June.

It was certainly a surprise that his name did not appear on the list of the four riders selected by Denmark to take part in Paris 2024. The cyclers selected were Mikkel Norsgaard Bjerg, Mads Pedersen, Mattias Skjelmose and Michael Morkov.

Vingegaard's fitness is uncertain. He suffered a serious injury in the crash in Spain and spent more time in the hospital than expected.

The 27-year-old Visma-Lease a Bike rider suffered broken ribs and a collarbone, as well as lung damage. The news seems to be good after Vingegaard announced earlier this month that he had resumed training on his bike. He hoped to be fit to defend his 'Grande Boucle' title.

"We don't know exactly how my fitness and recovery will go. However, I will do everything I can to get there," the champion added. The Tour de France concludes on 21 July and the Paris Olympic Games begin on 26 July.

In recent years, the cyclist has always focused his preparations on winning the Tour de France, the world's most important stage race. He is the only rider capable of beating the impressive Tadej Pogacar. He has done so twice in a row. However, his condition at the start of this year's 'Grande Boucle' is uncertain. It is not easy to recover from such a serious crash. And there is little time to get back to the level needed to win in France.

Earlier this week, Danish media quoted Vingegaard's coach, Tim Heemskerk, as saying: "The Dane has travelled to Tignes in France to start altitude training.

"It's a new step for him and now it's starting to look like normal training," he told the newspaper B.T. Heemskerk did not specify whether Vingegaard would be in shape in time for the Tour de France. It is difficult to determine, as cycling becomes more and more competitive.

In 2023 it was Pogacar who suffered a serious crash during the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race. He broke the scaphoid bone in his wrist and his preparation for the French race was delayed. Pogacar did very well, but perhaps lacked training, and Vigegaard was better than the Slovenian in both the time trial and the mountains, and won the Tour convincingly.

It is true that Pogacar is a rider with more diverse goals. He has won classics and other races. Vingegaard, however, is aiming to win the best race in the world and he is concentrating all his efforts on that. That may be why he has decided not to take part in Paris 2024 and concentrate on training to face Pogacar again.

Moreover, his team, Visma-Lease a Bike, has been very unlucky this season. It has not achieved the results that made it the best team in 2023. That squad won the Giro d'Italia with Primoz Roglic, the Tour de France with Vingegaard and the Vuelta a España with Seep Kuss. In 2024, the team is hurting because of the departure of Roglic, who is now riding for Bora. It also regrets the crashes of Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert.