Jonas Vingegaard has called into question in-race concussion protocols, following his experience with a head injury at Paris-Nice this March.
The two-time Tour de France winner crashed with 84km to go on stage five of the race and rode to the finish line, but abandoned ahead of the next day's start. He is yet to compete in the two months since.
Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Vingegaard said he was not immediately checked for concussion during the race, and "really suffer[ed]" with the aftermath of the injury.
“I went to the race doctor because I had some blood on my face – I was bleeding – but they never once checked me for concussion, which I find a bit odd, to be honest,” he said.
“It was visible that my glasses were broken, I had blood on my face, I even had a little bit of blood here on the eyebrow. For me, that was a bit odd that they didn’t check me for concussion.”
According to the UCI’s concussion protocol, riders should undergo an immediate assessment after a 'potential concussive event'; as part of this, medical staff are told to look for ‘red flags’, such as loss of consciousness and vomiting, as well as lesser ‘observable signs’ including facial injuries. The rider's team staff are expected to take appropriate action when race doctors are not available.
Vingegaard’s crash at Paris-Nice came while he was leading the general classification. After the stage, his teammate, Victor Campenaerts said the Dane complained of “dizziness – I didn’t get the impression that he was very lucid”.
Now looking back, Vingegaard described the incident as “maybe the most stupid crash that I’ve ever had”.
“We were going uphill, and one guy in front of me overlapped the wheel and went in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. We were basically just going 10-15kph. I couldn’t do anything, so I crashed straight on my face,” he said.
The severity of the injury then became clear in the days that followed.
“When I had been awake for about an hour or so, I had to sleep for about an hour and a half for the first three, four days,” the 28-year-old explained. “I did have a concussion, and I was really suffering from it at the start. Every day it was getting a little bit better.
“By Monday, I was thinking I could try get on the bike again, just one hour of a recovery ride, which backfired pretty much. Afterwards, I was completely dizzy and nauseous. I had to go lay down and sleep again, and then I didn’t touch my bike for the next four days.”
Looking ahead, Vingegaard said he would like to see more concerted in-race tests for concussions.
“I think as soon as somebody has something within the shoulders and above that’s visible, and you see that they hit something there, they should check them for concussion before they let them [continue],” he said.
“Of course, maybe the medical car was not there yet [in my case], but once I go to the medical car, they should as least check me when they can see that I hit my face.”
The former Tour de France champion is currently at a training camp in Sierra Nevada, Spain, building form towards the Tour de France.
Having only completed 10 race days this season, he will next compete at the Critérium du Dauphiné, before returning to altitude in Tignes, France ahead of the Tour.
A lack of racing, he said, has only given him “even more motivation” for his upcoming goals.
“I know at this moment that I’m not on my best level yet, but that’s what I’m here [in Sierra Nevada] for,” he said. “Hopefully I can be even better than I have ever been before. If I’m better than I’ve ever been before, I’m pretty sure that then I can at least fight for the victory in the Tour de France.”
While the French Grand Tour remains his "main goal", Vingegaard will also ride the Vuelta a España later this year. After that, a senior debut at the UCI World Championships in Rwanda is "in my head", he said, but not yet confirmed.
