The disastrous performance of two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard at the European Cycling Championships in France continues to be a topic of conversation, especially in Denmark. After Bjarne Riis had already harshly criticized his compatriot, former professional Michael Rasmussen followed up with harsh criticism.
Bjarne Riis made it clear to former Tour winners directly after the race what he thought of Jonas Vingegaard’s disappointing European Championship performance. The ex-professional accused his compatriot of not training enough and not taking the race seriously enough.
Michael Rasmussen made the same point in his analysis on the TV Udbruddet program. And he also chose drastic words to describe Vingegaard’s premature exit 110 kilometers from the finish.
Vingegaard “just embarrassing!”
“It’s just embarrassing!” raged the former professional. “Compared to how he normally looks, he is clearly too heavy. Wearing the national jersey in this physical condition is not appropriate. He has really wide hips. The advertising on the pants really stretches out,” Rasmussen saw an overweight Vingegaard in the south of France.
Rasmussen also cannot understand why the reigning Tour runner-up declared after the European Championship race that he had had a bad day. “He knew very well that he wouldn’t be able to put up a good fight. He said himself that he hadn’t trained for two weeks.”
It was “not right” that Vingegaard even started in this form. “He should have said he was staying at home and leaving his starting position to someone who cared about it. He didn’t take the task seriously. That’s obvious. And it’s also not appropriate because there are many drivers who like to be driven at the European Championships,” criticized Rasmussen.