Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, who hopes to return from an April race crash for this summer’s Tour, is not among the four riders on Denmark’s men’s road cycling team for the Paris Olympics.
The Olympics take place after the Tour.
Mads Pedersen, Mattias Skjelmose, Michael Mørkøv and Mikkel Bjerg make up the team, with Bjerg being selected for the final spot, the Denmark Olympic Committee and Denmark Cycling Federation announced Saturday.
A nation can qualify no more than four road cyclists per gender for the Olympics.
Pedersen, 28, is the most decorated of the group. In 2019, he became the first Danish man to win the world title in the road race. He also owns stage wins from all three Grand Tours — Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana.
Vingegaard, 27, hasn’t competed since breaking his collarbone and several ribs in an April 4 race crash and undergoing surgery.
In a video published May 7, Vingegaard said he hoped to race the Tour de France, which is June 29 to July 21.
“We don’t know exactly how my shape and how my recovery will go, but I will do everything I can to get there in my top shape,” Vingegaard said.
He can bid to join a select group of men to win three consecutive Tours, most recently Chris Froome, Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx.
The Paris Olympic men’s road events are July 27 (time trial) and Aug. 3 (road race). Tour de France general classification contenders sometimes skip the Olympics to rest after the grueling three-week Tour.
Vingegaard has never raced at the annual senior world championships, which also take place after the Tour.
