Big News For Jumbo-Visma: Vingegaard Signs On For Three More Years

In news that is jumbo for Jumbo (I’m sorry), Dutch WorldTour team Jumbo-Visma have signed reigning Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard to a three-year contract extension that will keep the Danish superstar with the team through the end of the 2027 season.

The team announced the extension with a press release this morning and an accompanying video that is, frankly put, kind of weird.

The video uses AI to simulate a young Vingegaard talking about the dreams he has; to one day become a professional cyclist, sign with a “big WorldTour team,” and maybe even win the Tour de France.

The video keeps with the theme of Jumbo’s recently unveiled Tour de France jersey, which promotes the idea of dreaming big.

Vingegaard said in the statement, “I have had a fantastic journey with the team who has supported me in every way to become the rider I am today. I appreciate the quality of the team and the people here and feel at home. Every day we push each other to get better, and this is where I can fulfill my full potential. We will definitely reach an even higher level together. I'm excited to continue growing within the team.”

Jumbo-Visma’s general manager Richard Plugge added, “Jonas is a fantastic fit for us: he is eager to learn and easy to coach, and also pushes us ahead as a team. He was a rough diamond when he first came to the team. Together, we developed significantly, ultimately winning the Tour de France. Jonas is essential to our goals if we're to maintain our position at the top.

The “rough diamond” Plugge mentions is a nod to Vingegaard’s origin story as a pro racer, which is now the stuff of legend.

In his teens and early twenties, Vingegaard was racing with Danish UCI Continental outfit, Team ColoQuick-Cult. In order to make a living, he was working in a local fish factory, skinning fish from 6 a.m. until noon, before going out on training rides.

It was on a training trip to Spain in March of 2018 with ColoQuick that Vingegaard took the Strava KOM on the well-known Coll de Rates climb, besting the app’s former KOM Tejay van Garderen along with several other WorldTour professionals. (Team Uno-X rider Jacob Hindsgaul took the KOM the following year, beating Vingegaard’s time by two seconds, when he was riding for ColoQuick.)

WorldTour teams immediately took note of the then-little-known rider’s effort, with Jumbo-Visma landing Vingegaard shortly thereafter.

Vingegaard spent his first few seasons riding in support of Jumbo’s GC contender Primož Roglič until stage 11 of the 2022 Tour de France, after the Dane overtook then-leader and overwhelming favorite Tadej Pogačar, putting a three-minute lead into the two-time Tour winner that would prove insurmountable over the following two weeks.

In just a few weeks, he will attempt to defend his yellow jersey against Pogačar, who appears to be in even better form than he was this time last season.

The extension will keep Vingegaard with Jumbo-Visma until he is thirty-years-old.

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