150mm cranks and a bizarre saddle - Was this the secret to Jonas Vingegaard's Volta ao Algarve victory?
CyclingTuesday, 25 February 2025 at 13:15
Jonas Vingegaard has won the Volta ao Algarve with a convincing time-trial where he put his rivals on blast and won significant time. After almost 6 months out of competition, the Dane showed up with several novelties in his time-trial bike, and this could've been an extremely successful improvement for his expected battle against Tadej Pogacar.
The cranks... Tadej Pogacar, very noticeably, started riding smaller 165mm cranks on his road bikes last year, and it could've potentially changed his riding style and helped him take the next step when it came to performances.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike CEO Richard Plugge recently said that: "We saw that Pogacar and other riders from Team UAE were racing with shorter cranks. We were also investigating that option, but they were the first to dare to implement it, and apparently it works."
Jonas Vingegaard ended his 2024 season in August and began training in October for 2025. This extra time on the bike was likely used to test some changes in the Dane's bike setup. Certainly, the use of shorter cranks was tested and Plugge's words anticipated what we'd see in the time-trial. Although it was a time-trial, Vingegaard did not only race a bike with reduced crank size, but he went as far down as 150mm.
Het Laatste Nieuws reported that 27 of the Dutch team's riders have effectively reduced their crank size, and that in some bikes this number had been scraped so as to escape the public eye. But open-eyed fans at the Volta ao Algarve measured a 150mm crank in Vingegaard's time-trial bike.
Vingegaard himself, before the time-trial, confirmed that he had gone through some changes: "We have made some small changes to the time trial bike. So just to see how it works, but also how I stand". The results speak for themselves.
But not only were the crank sizes under the spotlight this weekend, but also Vingegaard's unusual saddle. Made by Prologo, the custom-made saddle was visible on both Vingegaard and van Aert's bikes. Another unusual change, but an attempt at something new that seems to have worked quite effectively.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike were put on the spot in 2024 as (although hampered by injuries and illnesses) they became quite a secondary team to UAE Team Emirates - XRG, but this has not unmotivated the team. Instead, over the winter it seems like there was once again a lot of focus on where to potentially improve, and that entering 2025 these changes are being implemented and will become an extra challenge for the Emirati team and Tadej Pogacar this summer.
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E o selim estranho do Vingegaard na bike de crono? pic.twitter.com/b7ZJKEinrc
— O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) February 23, 2025
A fofoca desse início de ano são os pedivelas reduzidos. Pogacsr trucou com 165mm e agora Vingegaard pediu seis com 150mm.
— O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) February 22, 2025
O que eu acho? Que do que vi até aqui (eu sei que é bem cedo), que Pogacar venceria até com pedivela 180mm.
Visma tem muito trabalho a fazer. pic.twitter.com/IySaLjc3SH
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- Yeah, “little guy” who already beat Groenewegen and Merlier ;-) Also love how the media overhype anything in cycling, TNT saying this was a HUGE win for the team, let’s go back to using superlatives corresponding to reality. An important win maybe but c’mon, 50 points more than second when we’re at 20000? Had the team gotten 4th 5th and 6th and missed the podium completely they’d have collected more points but NO-ONE except themselves would have written one single word about their performance. Still well done to them for proving that the stage 3 pundit criticism about the little guys was unnecessary.Mistermaumau14-05-2025
- The ranking points between Jakob Fuglsang and Jonas Vingegaard is huge, BTW.. about 6700 ranking points. Mads trails Jonas by 14 points.FredMan14-05-2025
- Greatest ever? Based on CyclingRanking.com, Rolf Sorensen is #1, Jakob Fuglsang is #2, Jonas Vingegaard is #3, and Mads Pedersen is a very close #4. If you'd rather rely on personal opinion, or favorites, or what not, it's anybody's guess.FredMan14-05-2025
- I love it when the "little guy" wins!acem8214-05-2025
- Yeah, TdF is completely overrated, only amateurs and has-beens participate. And little ole skimpy Jonas has only won it as often as Switzerland or The Netherlands or Germany and Australia combined. Prestigewise there is NO comparison until he wins either the WC again or something big coz sorry G-W is basically a 2nd rate race at their level and he’s not won much else except a decent collection of stages, which Jonas and plenty of sprinters win too. Until now, MP is about pulling level with Asgreen who also won stages and classics, was a WC and HE got himself a monument and almost as many almosts as Mads but in a career only half as long.Mistermaumau13-05-2025
- Jonas is a great rider but only rides stage races so i would have to say he & Mads are about equal now. Stage racing in general is overvalued i think... (vs the power required to win one day races)Xrider5113-05-2025
- Jonas only does stage raXrider5113-05-2025
- First goats and now great danes, all we need now is a showdown at the tour of turkey, that could maybe slide into grease. Sorry, always happens when I get tired.Mistermaumau13-05-2025
- I think this kind of thing will become quite common in future in light of the way pros have had to up their game and risk-taking. Means more precarity but also a bigger pool.Mistermaumau13-05-2025
- Its difficult to compare the two, since both are fundamentally different as cyclists. Jonas is essentially a stage racer, whereas Mads excels in classics as well as in sprint stages at GTs. At this point of time, Jonas with his two Tour wins, beating Pogacar no less, has the better credentials. If Mads wins a few monuments and some Points Jerseys, the comparison may be closer.Cooldude13-05-2025
Not open-eyed but snoopy :-)
Either that’s an insider, Visma is using all this for buzz or their security protocols need a major overhaul coz otherwise what’s the logic behind painting and filing to hide things if then’ you let Joe Bloggs, Jane Doe and plumber Joe near your equipment?
As for the saddle, been predicting that for decades and mentioned it here a few days ago, no-brainer.
Next time I’m in Budapest I’m going to discuss developing and testing some other logical changes no-one has undertaken so far, there’s an artisanal racing bike parts maker there (in case someone is interested in personalised equipment) before contacting the UCI about what their position would be regarding banning it.