“Why don’t you shave your legs?”: Jonas Vingegaard gets asked the all-important question by amateur cyclist during training ride and replies, “I’ll shave before the Tour”; Fans call out “embarrassing” lack of Brit riders at Ineos + more on the live blog

At this point, we all know that shaved legs — although having the potential to be uncomfortable for first-timers — do provide a somewhat ambiguous aerodynamic advantage and are perhaps one of the cheapest and easiest ways to save precious watts for any ambitious amateur cyclist. And now, two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard has also chimed in on the subject, in his typical awkward fashion.

> How much faster are shaved legs for cycling? Should you shave your arms too?

On a training ride in Spain with his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Wilco Kelderman, he was approached by cycling influencer Artem Shcherbyna, who managed to stick to the duo’s wheel for their sprint and descending training ride who asked him the all-important question.

“Why don’t you shave your legs in the winter?” Shcherbyna asks. “Everyone was asking last year. They saw that you and Roglič were not shaving legs in the winter!”

Vingegaard replies: “I’ll shave it before the Tour.”

Popular influencer Artem catched Jonas Vingegaard on a training and also asked him some questions, this one was the best 🤣

Full video: https://t.co/zGVMJ8LL4U pic.twitter.com/iHIOAMRRmM

— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) January 2, 2025

Shcherbyna continues with a follow-up question, asking if it’s better to have unshaved legs during training, but unfortunately, Vingegaard’s response is indecipherable due to the wind.

Agh, I guess we’ll never know. One might say, the answer is blowin’ in the wind…

In the same video published on YouTube, Shcherbyna also asks the 28-year-old rider what was his maximum power on the sprints, and he replies: “800 watts.” However, Shcherbyna says that he doesn’t believe him, and it looked like it was 1400 watts instead.

“No. I’m not a sprinter,” replied the Dane.

To be fair, during the sprint which can be seen later in the video, Shcherbyna does go north of 1,000 watts while sprinting much behind Vingegaard, even writing: “I was really amazed how Jonas was sprinting, from the back it was looking like he can outsprint even best sprinters.” (Cue comments: Is Jonas coming for the rainbow jersey?).

The cyclo-tourist Shcherbyna was in the news last year two years ago after he tried to stick to Remco Evenepoel’s wheel during a training ride in Calpe and was promptly waved away by the Belgian.

> “Let them work and give them their space”: Remco Evenepoel tells amateur to stop following him during interval session

After the video was posted online, several fans and pros alike jumped to Evenepoel’s support. “The guys are working there in their ‘office’, let them work and give them their space,” wrote former pro cyclist Michael Burghardt. “They are also not walking into your office.”

“I’d be pissed off too if I’m completing interval’s and you’re sat on my wheel trying to keep up,” another Instagram user wrote. “Even if slightly off my wheel. I wouldn’t go stand over the shoulder of a worker plastering my wall. You’ve gotta respect and leave them to it when they are doing work. It’s nice to get the content, however you’ve gotta be respectful and ask if you can either ride with them or film them doing an interval.”

On the other hand, there are instances of the act going down rather well too. Just a few days ago, a 17-year-old amateur cyclist recalled the “unforgettable experience” of clinging to Tadej Pogačar’s wheel for two kilometres and pushing 490 watts during the world champion’s KOM ride on Coll de Rates.

17-year-old Quinten Muys keeps up with Tadej Pogačar during Coll de Rates KOM ride (Quinten Muys)

“In the first corner, we saw someone from UAE standing there with a stopwatch,” Quinten Muys told Sporza about his close encounter with his sporting idol. “That’s when we knew something special was about to happen. About 2.5km from the summit, we suddenly heard a car honking, signalling us to move aside. Then Pogačar flew past us.

“I managed to stay in Pogacar’s wheel for two kilometres. I was pushing 480 to 490 watts.”

“Afterward, his team directors gave me a pat on the back. It was an unforgettable experience. Something really cool… That’s something that will stay with me forever.”

After sitting out today’s X2O Trophy Koksijde race, Alpecin-Deceuninck has announced that Mathieu van der Poel won’t be able to race in Sunday’s UCI World Cup race Dendermonde due to the persisting rib pain as a result of his injury from the crash in Exact Cross Loenhout last week.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Alpecin-Deceuninck (@alpecindeceuninck)

The team wrote: “Mathieu van der Poel forced to skip Dendermonde as well. Initially, Mathieu van der Poel planned to make a decision by Saturday, but the call came earlier than expected: the World Champion has announced his withdrawal from the World Cup round in Dendermonde.”

Van der Poel said: “There’s no point in waiting any longer. I did another test today, and it’s clear that Dendermonde comes too soon. On heavier off-road terrain, I’m still experiencing too much pain in my rib. I have no choice but to remain patient.”

Alpecin-Deceuninck added: “As planned, Mathieu will head to a training camp in Spain after Dendermonde. Later this month, he is set to compete in the World Cup races in Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide before making a bid for his seventh world title in Liévin in early February. For now, the rest of his cyclocross program remains unaffected.”

This means that this would be the second time that fans won’t be greeted to a showdown between the old rivals Van der Poel and Wout van Aert, who’s set to ride the World Cup race. In December, it was the Belgian who had to withdraw from Superprestige Mol — supposed to be the duo’s first face-off of this season due to falling ill.

Thameslink has encouraged cyclists at St Albans City station – which boasts the highest bike theft rate in Britain – to use the station’s cycle hub and CCTV-covered parking areas, where bikes have also been stolen in recent years.

> Cycle racks “suspended” and taped off outside train station where one bike is stolen every two days

The X2O Badkamers Trofee race in Koksijde — one of the biggest races of the cyclocross season — will miss four of the sport’s biggest stars after Baloise Glowi Lions announced last-minute that Thibau Nys not taking part after falling ill in the last few days.

Thibau Nys (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Nys’ teammate Lars van der Haar is suffering with an injured knee, while it was reported yesterday that the world champion Van der Poel is still recovering from the ongoing rib problems due to his final lap crash at the Exact Cross.

“Thibau did not feel well this morning and tried it on the rollers anyway. But after the warm-up it turned out that he has not recovered enough. And so he will not be present in Koksijde,” the team said.

Meanwhile, Michael Vanthourenhout has also withdrawn from the race, with the Belgian rider deciding to focus on the World Cup fully.

As teams start publishing their rosters for 2025 season, fans have started taking note of the eye-catching number of Brit riders in Visma-Lease a Bike’s stacked squad.

The Dutch team, which conquered the 2023 pro cycling season, winning all three Grand Tours with three different riders had a lacklustre showing last year, but coupled with a slew of shrewd transfers and promotion of young riders from its Development Team to the senior squad, the team looks stronger and much more well-balanced than last time.

Besides Tour de France stage-winning Belgian rider Victor Campenaerts joining the team, the team has strengthened itself with British riders too, including the signing of Simon Yates from Jayco-AlUla and Daniel McLay from Arkéa-B&B Hotels as well as the promotion of Matthew Brennan from its junior team.

Further, the team already has the likes Giro d’Italia stage-winner Ben Tulett who joined from Ineos in 2024, as well as the 23-year-old Thomas Groag. Visma have also signed 19-year-old Jed Smithson to its Development squad, along with the 18-year-old sensation Imogen Wolff, who recently secured a podium at the women's Exact Cross race, on a three-year contract.

> "Dysfunctional clown show": Cycling fans react to Tom Pidcock's departure and accuse Ineos Grenadiers of "complete lack of ambition" and "monumental" decline

While the recent struggles of Ineos Grenadiers are well-documented, fans have reacted negatively to the flocking of major British talents away from the British WorldTour team, including Tom Pidcock who joined second-tier Q36.5 Pro Cycling after a long-winded transfer saga, as well as Ethan Hayter, who has signed on to Soudal Quick-Step.

Andrew Hill wrote on social media: “VISMA Lease a Bike way ahead of INEOS when it comes to scouting new talent. Embarrassing really,” while Richard Hamilton commented on Facebook: “Visma is surely a more appealing proposition to any developing rider.”

The current crop of riders at Ineos includes six British riders as of now, which include Sam Watson, Ben Turner, Ben Swift, Connor Swift, Josh Tarling, and Geraint Thomas, with the latter set to retire at the end of the 2025 season.