Visma-Lease a Bike announced that 2024 Tour de France runner-up Jonas Vingegaard will return to racing in August at the Clasica San Sebastian (August 10) and Tour de Pollogne (August 12-19).

Vingegaard, who finished second behind Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) in the 2024 Tour de France, has ruled out a return this summer to the Vuelta a España, where he finished second overall in 2023.

However, three days after the Tour ended, Tour de Pollogne organizers had already announced that Vingegaard would return to the race in 2019, where he won his first professional victory on the toughest mountain stage in southern Poland.

On Friday, Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed that Classica San Sebastian has joined the Dane's summer race schedule. His teammates include Vuelta a Burgos leader and 2023 Vuelta a España champion Zep Kuss and former Giro d'Italia podium finisher Wilco Kelderman.

Also competing in the Basque Classic will be up-and-coming British pro Thomas Grogg. He has been away from racing just recently as he recovers from an injury sustained in 2023.

"I was very tired after the Tour; I did absolutely nothing for five days. I recharged my batteries and started training again. Everything went well. Now I feel fresh and ready to take on the next two races," Vingegaard explained in a statement released by the team.

"The race in San Sebastian and the Tour de Pollogne are beautiful races. Moreover, I have a special bond with Poland. Poland is where I won my first World Tour race.

"I feel like I still have something to prove there: in 2019 I won the most difficult stage and started the next day in the leader's jersey, but didn't win the overall.

"I'm determined to win this year, but of course the competition cannot be underestimated.

The team admitted that they will try to win the overall in Pollogne with Vingegaard - team director Maarten Winantz said, "He has unfinished business" - but Visma Lease-a-Bike, along with Olaf Kooij, will also be in the sprint for the week-long competition. He will be looking for his chance. The young Dutch fastman won his first WorldTour race in 2022 in Pollogne.

But first, Vingegaard will be racing in the Basque Country for the first time since his terrible crash in Ituria this past April, triggered by a serious injury in the Alto de Oreata.

Saturday's Classica route has been changed for the umpteenth time, and the 237-km race will now feature the famous Jaizkebel near the French border, the relentlessly hard Cat 1 El Reiz, and the short but even tougher climb just 8 km from the line, the Pilotegui with a maximum slope of 27%! Three climbs will likely decide the outcome.

"It will be special to be back in the Basque Country after everything that happened a few months ago," Vingegaard said.

"Fortunately, I have a lot of good memories of that region and I am really looking forward to racing there again."