Vingegaard has not been on a bike since surgeons repaired his fractured collarbone on 21 July.

The Dane confirmed as much on Thursday in Glyngøre, the fishing town of about 1,300 people where he grew up, as PostNord Danmark Rundt rolled out of the start village for stage 2.

He was not racing; he was there to wave the peloton off, and to be interviewed on stage by the race announcers.

“It’s getting better. It’s not really bad anymore. I can use my arm now,” Vingegaard told Danish broadcaster TV 2.

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“It’s not quite like before, but it will be.”

Off the bike, and in no hurry

Vingegaard is nine days on from surgery, and the honesty of the update stood out.

Team Visma-Lease a Bike had described the operation as straightforward in the hours after it was done, but the two-time Tour champion had not spoken publicly about his condition until now.

He offered a simple reason for staying off the trainer.

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“I needed a break after the Tour. It’s been a hard year,” he said.

That is not just injury talk. Vingegaard won the Giro d’Italia in May to complete cycling’s Grand Tour set, becoming the first Dane and only the eighth rider ever to win the Tour, the Giro and the Vuelta.

Six weeks later he was back at the Tour de France, sitting second overall, when he went down around 20km from the finish of stage 15 on the road to Plateau de Solaison. His race ended there.

Hometown, and a hint of restlessness

The Glyngøre reception was warm. Event chief Klaus Falk Paarup had trailed the appearance days earlier by calling Vingegaard “Glyngøre’s great hero” and framing it as the race’s chance to congratulate him for the Giro.

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Standing next to riders who were about to race, Vingegaard admitted the itch was there.

“There’s a tingling feeling to race. Especially today, on home soil,” he said.

Worlds not ruled out, not promised

The next question is when he races again. The Vuelta a España starts on 22 August, a month after surgery, and is not seen as a realistic target.

The road world championships in Montreal on 27 September give him roughly two months, and he was careful not to promise anything.

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“It’s not out of the question for me, but I also don’t want to say now that it’s going to happen,” Vingegaard said.

He put the decision on his body, not the calendar.

“I actually don’t know yet, it depends on how the collarbone reacts, and how it heals, and how it recovers.”

For now the reply to the question everyone wanted answered in Glyngøre was the shortest and clearest one he gave all afternoon: he has not been on the bike.

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