French TV asked Vingegaard how to say his name so everyone can stop saying it wrong

No idea why it’s taken this long, but finally someone asked Dane Jonas Vingegaard how to say his last name. Maybe I’ve been taking the brutal pronunciations of his last name little personally, but as a Canadian with Danish-born parents, my middle name is Stjernegaard, so I feel for the guy.

Gaard or gård can mean a few different things, but usually it’s farm, yard or court. For example, Kirkegaard is a church yard. It’s also common in other Scandinavian languages–for example think of the Swede, Stellan Skarsgård. The Jumbo – Visma rider’s full name is Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen, but with Danish naming conventions, he will usually drop the Rasmussen, just like EF Education’s Magnus Cort Nielsen. I guess I should probably be Matthew Stjernegaard, but given how little fun it was having Canadian teachers to try and pronounce my name on the first day of school in my youth, I’m gonna stick with Hansen. (Saint Jern Gaard? Sturney-Guard?)  Thankfully I won’t be leading the Tour de France anytime, so it won’t be a problem.

Anyway, the French broadcaster Celine Rousseaux finally did the cycling world a huge favour by asking him, how do you say your name? And he patiently responded. So hopefully some of the other commentators around the world saw this clip.

“Can you tell me, and everyone else in France, how you say your family name,” she asks in French. And he smiles, and the Dane responds.

? Fin des beaux débats sur la prononciation de #Vingegaard! La réponse de la bouche même de l’intéressé. Merci @CelineRx!!! @francetvsport pic.twitter.com/39fIojeoXo

— guillaume papin (@guillaumepapin) July 7, 2023