Bartali vs Coppi, Anquetil vs Poulidor, Merckx vs Ocaña, Hinault vs LeMond, Longo vs Canins, Armstrong vs Ullrich and ... Pogacar vs Vingegaard. We take a look at one of the most epic rivalries in the history of cycling and what they have achieved racing against each other.
All sports live on rivalries. It's the essence of everything high-level competition, rivalry brings out the competitive spirit in every athlete and in cycling, professionals live to beat their great rivals on the road. Together with CiclismoAtual, we have taken a close look into some interesting stats.
These days, there are no names that mirror the concept of rivalry in men's road cycling more than Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates and Jonas Vingegaard of Team Visma | Lease a Bike. The 26-year-old Slovenian and the 27-year-old Dane are undoubtedly the two biggest names in cycling when it comes to the Grand Tours, and when we think of big confrontations in cycling today we certainly can't imagine a bigger scenario than having these two forces of nature face off. Just consider that Pogacar and Vingegaard have won the last five editions of the Tour de France between them.
Read also
In 2024, for the 4th consecutive year, the two cyclists occupied the top two positions in the overall classification of the Tour de France (with each of them winning two editions in this time frame), which further reflects their dominance over the rest of the World Tour peloton. We've taken a closer look at the performances of the two champions in the last four editions of the Tour and put together some data that we think is interesting at a time when all eyes are on the planning for next season and the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two.
Note: Please note that for the purposes of this analysis, the time frame from 2021 is taken into account, since in 2020 Jonas Vingegaard did not take part in the Tour de France. At the time, Tadej Pogacar ended up beating his compatriot Primoz Roglic in a dramatic finish that saw him jump into the yellow jersey on the Planche des Belles Filles time trial in the penultimate stage of the edition.
Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel on the final podium of the Tour de France 2024. @Sirotti
1) Cumulative overall ranking 2021-2024
Let's say we hypothetically forget the fact that Jonas Vingegaard didn't enter the 2021 Tour de France as team leader and only took the lead after Primoz Roglic abandoned, or that in 2022 they both ended up playing a role as co-leaders within Jumbo-Visma (now Team Visma | Lease a Bike), or that in 2023 Tadej Pogacar entered the Tour recovering from a fractured wrist, or that in 2024 Jonas Vingegaard also entered the Tour still recovering from various injuries sustained in a crash in the Tour of the Basque Country.
If we look at the actual race times of both cyclists, there is a clear winner over the last four years. Tadej Pogacar has been 1m25s faster than Jonas Vingegaard over the last 4 editions, and he managed to recover in 2024 from a record that was unfavorable to him after a year in 2023 where he had a third week below the level he has been used to in recent years - where he famously cracked on the Col de la Loze monster stage.
But looking at the figures below we have to be a little cautious because the numbers don't fully reflect what we see on the road and we may have a slightly wrong perception of what the difference in strength between the two cyclists really is.
| Position | Cyclist | Time | Difference |
| 1 | POGAČAR Tadej | 328:24:46 | - |
| 2 | VINGEGAARD Jonas | 328:26:11 | + 1:25 |
2) But was Pogacar really that dominant?
What if we took away the bonifications at the finish line? Would we still have the same difference between the two riders?
It seems that if the race times were calculated without bonuses, not only would the differences be shorter, but Jonas Vingegaard would actually beat Tadej Pogacar's time on the road. Even so, we're talking about a difference of just 3 seconds in 4 editions with a total of 13667 kilometers, which is minimal and reflects the great balance between these two colossi;
| Position | Cyclist | Total Time | Bonuses | Time without bonus | Difference |
| 1 | VINGEGAARD Jonas | 328:26:11 | 01:51 | 328:28:02 | - |
| 2 | POGAČAR Tadej | 328:24:46 | 03:19 | 328:28:05 | + 0.03 |
3) Trends from year to year
Over the years, Tadej Pogacar has gained time on Jonas Vingegaard in 20 stages of the Tour, while Vingegaard has gained time on the world champion only six times. This demonstrates the contrasting styles of the two cyclists: Pogacar is always more explosive and offensive, while Vingegaard is more surgical in measuring his efforts. Pogacar often gains time, much of it in bonifications, but it is Vingegaard who is able to give his rival the biggest blows.
See the graph below which shows the differences between Pogacar and Vingegaard over the years, in seconds.
*Note: The values below the 0 line represent an advantage for Pogacar, above the line an advantage for Vingegaard. In red we have values without bonuses and in green values with bonuses.
*Note: The values below the 0 line represent an advantage for Pogacar, above the line an advantage for Vingegaard. In red we have values without bonuses and in green values with bonuses.
Time difference between Vingegaard and Pogacar over the years
Read also
4) Time gained against the clock
In this specialty, for the purposes of analysis, we consider all the races contested throughout the seasons, since the type of effort expended in this discipline will always be very similar regardless of the race being contested.
The time trial is a discipline in which every Grand Tour cyclist is almost "obliged" to specialize currently. Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard have faced each other 10 times in individual time trials over the last four seasons. Pogacar has won 6 times and Vingegaard 4 times. The most common tendency is for Pogacar to have the advantage in efforts on flatter terrain, while Vingegaard tends to have the advantage when there are climbs involved. The exception to the rule was seen in the last stage of this year's Tour between Monaco and Nice, where Pogacar gave the competition no chance and took his sixth stage win, securing his third career yellow jersey.
| Stage | Kilometers | Climbing meters | Pogacar gain | Vingegaard gain |
| Tour de France 2024 - Stage 21 | 33.7 | 720 | 1:03 | |
| Tour de France 2024 - Stage 21 | 25.3 | 283 | 0:25 | |
| Tour de France 2023 - Stage 16 | 22.4 | 636 | 1:38 | |
| Tour de France 2022 - Stage 20 | 40.7 | 434 | 0:08 | |
| Tour de France 2022 - Stage 1 | 13.2 | 21 | 0:08 | |
| Tirreno-Adriatico 2022 - Stage 1 | 13.9 | 4 | 0:35 | |
| Tour de France 2021 - Stage 20 | 30.8 | 246 | 0.25 | |
| Tour de France 2021 - Stage 5 | 27.2 | 356 | 0:27 | |
| Tour of the Basque Country 2021 - Stage 1 | 13.8 | 318 | 0:10 | |
| UAE Tour 2021 - Stage 2 | 13 | 94 | 0:19 |
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
Loading
Riders that were able to close a Tadej Pogacar solo attack and then win the stage in 2024. - Jonas Vingegaard (TDF 2024 s11) End of list.
2 Comments