Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen and Jonas Vingegaard’s nearly five-year-old daughter, Frida, can no longer contain her curiosity and wants to know who her mother is talking to. Suddenly, she appears on the screen and greets.
»I just need to finish this, so could you go find your dad,« says Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen.
»Can I have an ice cream?« the daughter asks cleverly.
»Yes, you can have one if you go to your dad.«
The daughter waves and runs off to her father and little brother just as quickly as she appeared.
»It’s incredible how many ice creams she gets bribed with throughout the day,« laughs Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen.
Most parents can probably recognize being in a similar situation. Only the Vingegaard family currently knows what it’s like to combine family life with a realistic chase for the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Neither Tadej Pogacar nor Remco Evenepoel have children.
Trine Marie Hansen sits with the peaks near Tignes as her backdrop. It’s mid-June at the last training camp before this year’s Tour. She has agreed to give an insight into the family life around Jonas Vingegaard. Since his debut on the big stage, the double Tour de France winner has emphasized the importance of family as the foundation for his performances.
According to Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen, the days take their toll, something which the outside world typically doesn’t see.
»If we didn’t have children, I don’t think it would be so demanding for us. It’s an exciting and privileged life, but it’s also a wild life with children to fly back and forth as much as we do,« says Trine Marie Hansen.
In the pursuit of a Tour de France triumph, Visma Lease a Bike wants Jonas Vingegaard to train abroad in the mountains an not so much on the flat roads and in the cold at home in Denmark. When the Vingegaard family receives the upcoming season’s program in November, wild planning begins, booking hotels and Airbnb stays in various places in Europe.
»It’s a really difficult life because there’s so much travel back and forth. It starts in February and then it’s back and forth every or every other week. The children and I are home for ten days, then we’re away for ten days to be close to Jonas, then we’re home for a week, then away for 14 days and so on. It goes on until the season ends,« says Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen. In the half-year with the Tour de France as the focal point, Jonas Vingegaard is only home in Denmark for ten days.
Vingegaard needs more peace
Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen is not the classic story of the wife who solely stands in the shadow behind the athlete. She is the woman who has played a crucial role in building the cyclist Jonas Vingegaard. She helped him overcome the nervousness that had a paralyzing effect on performances in his first season as a professional. Jonas Vingegaard focuses on cycling and training. She handles everything else, as she puts it. This also includes being his manager.
Are you in a situation where you think it might be difficult for you to continue in the same routine as a family?
»Knowing Jonas, I would say that the pressure is too much now. I fear he’s burning the candle at both ends. There’s so much travel. He’s a guy who needs a bit more peace around him to recharge more. You can calculate all sorts of things in an Excel sheet, but sometimes you forget the whole person and how to get the best out of him. It can backfire.«
In recent seasons, Jonas has been criticized for not racing enough. What do you think about that?
»Jonas needs to recharge to deliver his very best. He won’t automatically win more by racing more. Life would actually be easier if he raced more. The team’s big wish is for him to win the Tour de France. Therefore, they plan the best route to achieve that, which includes many altitude training camps. Jonas doesn’t recharge when he’s at altitude training camp with the team for three weeks yet again. He preferably needs to be with us at home in Denmark to do that. If that’s not possible, we need to be together somewhere else where we can just be ourselves.«
»He is very much a comfort seeker. He sometimes needs to reset in the calmest surroundings possible with the family. He’s not like many of the other riders in that regard. That’s clearly a big part of him and his results.«
This approach is also the reason why Jonas Vingegaard is only present in the classic media or on social media when required of him.
»We know there are many who think Jonas should give more interviews or be more present on social media. But that’s not how we are as people. He shares only what the team wants on social media, and otherwise it’s quite quiet. As a family, we don’t support being active on social media. It doesn’t give Jonas energy to participate in countless interviews. We agree to things that make sense to us or that Jonas is obliged to do. We could also make a lot of money from all sorts of advertisements, but we don’t think it’s more important than spending time together as a family.«
According to Trine Marie Hansen, focusing on things other than cycling has been crucial for developing the cyclist Jonas Vingegaard.
»At one point, we chose to renovate a house together. Jonas realized he could both tear down a kitchen, install a new kitchen, and lay hardwood floors. We disagreed with the team about that. They thought he was doing too much at home. But I thought it was important that he also had to take on some of the tough and tedious tasks. Because it was important that we were equal and did it together. If others could, then so could we. When we had renovated the house, we were totally thrilled that we could do such things.«
All in for Vingegaard
28-year-old Jonas Vingegaard also broke with many cyclists’ approach to life when he became a father to Frida at an early age in September 2020.
»Something extraordinary happened to him when he became a father. Life no longer solely revolved around his own needs. There was something more important than himself and the good or bad outcome of a race.«
»Many thought it was way too early and he should focus on his career. But I think it has given him so much. Previously, he lacked confidence, self-belief, and thinking he was good enough. He has gained that, and I’m proud of it.«
Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen has one wish for this year’s Tour de France on behalf of her husband.
»I hope he has the team’s full support instead of there being various goals during the race. I think the team should focus on winning the Tour de France and nothing else. Then I believe he has the best chance of winning.«
»If you start using resources on stage wins for other riders, those resources are taken away from Jonas’ basket. You can only respect how it’s done for Tadej Pogacar. When he lines up for a race, there’s no doubt about who the captain is. Everyone knows their role. I think that’s extremely important.«
Again this year, Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen follows the race as closely as possible.
»I have some children who don’t like driving in the car,« she laughs.
»That limits how closely we can follow the Tour de France. I always go through with Jonas which stages he thinks are important and when he wants us to be present.«
»We are there for the stages he thinks are important. Otherwise, we keep to ourselves. We travel so much now that every day with peace counts.«
