The Danish team captain was forced to abandon the Tour de France during the 15th stage after suffering a fractured collarbone in a costly crash, but Vingegaard returned to the team hotel on Sunday evening to say goodbye to his Visma | Lease a Bike teammates before leaving the race.
Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike), who has been blamed by Vingegaard's Danish compatriot Mads Pedersen for causing the crash, said the Dane helped lift the mood within the squad rather than focus on the disappointment of being forced to leave the race while he was in second place.
"He came to the hotel," Campenaerts told Sporza after the individual time trial on Tuesday.
"He'd probably already had his moment, and the emotional blow will probably only really hit him once he's back home, but he ended up comforting us more than we comforted him."
Campenaerts revealed that Vingegaard's final evening with the team had a surprisingly very positive atmosphere, even though the hopes of meeting one of the long-term goals of the season were crushed on stage 15.
"We actually had a nice dinner; it was very pleasant. Usually, we have burgers and fries, but they’re the 'food coach' versions, different from the local chip shop, though still very tasty."
"But there was a McDonald's in a nearby village, and Jonas went out to get 'real' burgers and fries. He sat at our table. It was a really nice evening. I think everyone went back to their rooms feeling good."
With Vingegaard out of the race, Davide Piganzoli remains the Dutch team’s highest-placed rider in the race, in 13th position, 27:28 min. behind race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Campenaerts said that the team's emphasis will now be on targeting stage victories in the final week rather than the general classification.