In Paris, on the occasion of the presentation of the Tour de France 2027, Jonas Vingegaard was not present, but to give voice to Team Visma – Lease a Bike there was CEO Richard Plugge, convinced that for the Dane the challenge with Pogacar will restart from Edinburgh.

The manager of Visma-Lease a Bike believes in Vingegaard's chances at the 2027 Tour, but the course, with less high mountains and more time trials, does not seem to favor him. After a season in which he won the Giro d'Italia, but was forced to withdraw from the Tour de France, the Fisherman King will have to choose how to prepare his comeback.

The last image of Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France is that of a rider in an ambulance, after the crash on July 19 on the road to the Plateau de Solaison. The next shot, instead, could come from Edinburgh: the Grand Départ of the 2027 Tour is scheduled for July 2 and Richard Plugge, team manager of Visma-Lease a Bike, has no doubts. "Yes, of course, I see no reason why he shouldn't be there," he said in Paris.

The Dane's participation is obviously not yet official, but his story is too closely tied to the Grande Boucle to imagine a withdrawal. "He made his breakthrough here in 2021, finishing second, and he won here in 2022 and 2023," Plugge pointed out. Yet the prospect of a new confrontation with Tadej Pogacar is far from simple: in the last edition Vingegaard accumulated 4'30" of delay before withdrawing. After arriving at the Markstein, fourth at 44 seconds from the yellow jersey, he had admitted: "There's nothing I can do. He's too explosive."

Plugge, however, continues to believe in his chances. "I think Jonas, along with Tadej, is the strongest rider. He still has excellent chances of winning the Tour." The manager added that the team and coaches will need to analyze the last season and build a plan capable of enhancing the Dane's characteristics. An optimism also based on results: in 2026 Vingegaard won Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya and the Giro d'Italia.

The 2027 course, however, presents obvious obstacles. The high mountain stages are fewer in number and the time trial kilometers rise to 71, the highest figure since 2012: a combination that, on paper, favors Pogačar. Vingegaard has lost four of the last five time trials he contested against the Slovenian. "There are fewer mountain finishes, although in my opinion there could have been more," observed Marc Reef, sports director of Visma. Among the opportunities to exploit, he points to the Grand Colombier stage, the one with the Domancy climb and a section with 4,750 meters of elevation gain. "The time trials will play a fundamental role."

It is precisely there that Vingegaard's work could concentrate: improving in time trials and in short, intense efforts, already at the center of preparation for a Tour with an explosive profile. To do this, the Dane could skip the Giro d'Italia. In 2026 the pink race restored his confidence, with the overall classification victory and five stage wins, but it also required energy that could have been devoted to more specific preparation for the Tour.

The decision on the calendar will also need to take into account growing competition. Pogacar remains the benchmark and young riders like Del Toro and Seixas continue to advance: the margin to bring Vingegaard back to the top of the Grande Boucle is not infinite. But Plugge assures that the motivation is intact: "Jonas still has fire in his eyes. He loves cycling and he loves to win, especially at the Tour."

Participation should be made official in mid-December. Until then, Visma will have time to study the course and choose the strategy: focus on the mountains, work on the time trial or try to surprise Pogacar with both. There are few certainties; the desire to try again, at least according to Plugge, is not lacking.