In a comprehensive interview with Ride Magazine, Tim Heemskerk reveals a side of Jonas Vingegaard that is rarely known. Heemskerk is the Danish rider's coach at Visma – Lease a Bike and has helped Jonas reach the Tour de France podium 4 times, with two overall victories. The Danish rider is an introverted man who loves his privacy and feels safe with his family, and building a deep connection with him has primarily been about establishing trust.

“Jonas is the perfect experiment” – Heemskerk explained – “he's not a robot, but he does everything he's asked down to the smallest detail, because he perfectly understands the reason and knows it's the best way to achieve the goal we've set.”

Vingegaard is in some ways an impenetrable rider and during races, behind his sunglasses, it's difficult to read his emotions and the effort he's experiencing: only at the end of the race, when he gets off his bike, can you understand if there's satisfaction or disappointment with the result obtained.

“If you tell him to train for five hours in a specific zone, he pedals those five hours in that exact zone. He understands perfectly that through training you can discover exactly what works best for him based on perfect training programs. Many cyclists constantly deviate from their program. They pedal 10 watts harder and turn five hours into five and a half hours. Jonas doesn't do that. Four hours with VO2 intervals are always 4 hours with VO2 intervals.”

Vingegaard is a rider who can focus perfectly and constantly follows what is told to him from the team car. In some aspects, he might seem like an automaton, capable of executing only the orders given to him, but for Heemskerk, this is not the case.

“When we define programs, Jonas gives us maximum trust, as a technical staff. By the way, this isn't blind training like a robot, as sometimes thought. It's simply about understanding why following a specific program or a certain race strategy is better than other possible choices.”

At Visma – Lease a Bike, everything is tested and tried beforehand and nothing is ever left to chance. Certainly, the Dutch team is the most strategically prepared in the World Tour, and their ability to turn races around has been demonstrated many times. Even in the last Giro d'Italia, Yates managed to win the pink jersey thanks to an extraordinary attacking and surprise strategy.

“We continue to work with the same routine as before his successes. I think this also suits an introverted personality like his. When a certain way of working together works well, there's no need to be anxious about changing because there's no reason. The strength of introverted people is that they prepare very well, respecting every point of the program. If I were to call Jonas unexpectedly for an interview, we'd have a normal conversation. But if you schedule an appointment with him, then you'll have the pleasure of finding a man prepared down to the smallest details. That's Jonas.”