Well, it seems I hit a nerve. Earlier this week I wrote that calling Tour de France winner elect Jonas Vingegaard ‘Danish Dynamite’ was resorting to a lazy and unsatisfactory nickname.
I had thought maybe I was alone in thinking this was rubbish but it seems I’m not . I asked you to email in and many of you did with an avalanche of suggestions for better (Ok, I’m not sure they’re all better) or weirder (some are definitely this) nicknames for Jumbo-Visma leader.
Here’s a selection of some of the best the Cycling Weekly inbox had to offer. We’re not going to choose a winner, the only winner here is cycling - and our ears if they don't have to hear Danish Dyanmite again.
Lars Redder Jakobsen
Pedalling Papa, because it's obvious that he loves his family. Also, he is humble and does not put on a show so perhaps, the silent climber.
Simon Silvester
Surely any good product from Denmark should be described as sizzling
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Diego Leal
Regarding Jonas's nickname, the guys at ESPN Latin America have already been calling him MacAulay Culkin because he has the same white pale skin, same haircut and hair colour and same bitter-sour face.
Niels Christiansen
Couldn't agree more about the lameness of Danish Dynamite. Not only is that long since taken and worn out, but it has been my fantasy football moniker for years. Jonas deserves better.
Here are some thoughts and ideas and one serious bid for a possible name that might stick:
Vinge is Danish for wing
gaard means farm or yard
I don't really know what to do with farm or yard, but wing has a nice ring to it.
Also, Glyngøre, where Jonas used to work, is home of the most famous Danish herring, so there's that. So here goes:
The Flying Fish
The Flying Herring
Wing of the Mountains
Wing of Denmark
or, my favourite, simply: Wings
Auntie Pinny
English speakers should just give up and call him "Vingo." It's short, cute, and they can't get close to Danish pronunciation. He's made it a great Tour.
Carl Dyson
The Great Dane
Bart Veilbrief
Iceman suits his cool better. And isn’t that’s what he used to store the fish in
Jette Kristoffersen
Totally agree Danish Dynamite says nothing at all about Jonas Vingegaard's qualities and personality. I suggests focusing on his down-to-earthness, stability, humility, endurance and strength. What is more appropriate than an immovable plant that stands firmly, for example lyme grass (which grows on most Danish beaches) horsetail or another strong weed that is difficult to exterminate.
Ole Schroder
Let's look at his surname: the first part 'Vinge' is actually the Danish word for wing (on a bird or an aeroplane). That's clearly the first step to something related to an eagle, a falcon or hawk.
Another angle is to write 'Vinde' instead of the correct spelling. That's the Danish word for winning, something we all hope will happen (well, at least all of us in Denmark, probably not very likely in Slovenia).
I suggest: 'Flying Jonas'.
Dean Foulds
Shark slayer Jonas
Flying fillet monger
Vanishing Vingegaard
Jumping Jonas
Choose whichever is your favourite but please don’t all him Danish Dynamite.
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Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.
