ANALYSIS | Why Jonas Vingegaard can be so dangerous at the 2025 European Championships

On Sunday, October 5, one of the most anticipated races of the season will take place: the 2025 European Championships road race. The elite men's road race will pit, for the first time, Tadej Pogacar against Jonas Vingegaard, as well as other rivals such as Remco Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso or João Almeida in a one-day race. But the main news is the presence of the Dane, who does not usually do one-day races.

Vingegaard has already established himself as one of the century's greatest Grand Tour riders. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike star has just won the third Grand tour of his career: the Vuelta a España (along with two Tour de France wins in 2022 and 2023). But as a classics rider, it's not that he has never stood out, it's that he has barely participated in one-day races.

That's why his leadership in the Danish lineup, which will also feature Mattias Skjelmose, among others, is so dangerous for his rivals. Tadej Pogacar is used to dealing with the Jonas Vingegaard who fights head-to-head with him for 3 weeks - or when they collide in one-week races.

But the unknown factor can play very much in favor of the Danish team. With more than 3,300 meters of accumulated elevation gain, Vingegaard can't be ruled out at all for the fight for the European champion's jersey. How he will attack, will he wait for an attack from a rival, how will he respond to such an attack, what will he do?

Jonas Vingegaard did not want to sign up for the World Championships in Kigali, but he did plan to race the European Championships. He hasn't done so since winning the last Vuelta a España, after which he finished very exhausted. But he doesn't have the load on his legs from the brutal world championships in Rwanda. It will be a total spectacle, no doubt.

His unknown state of form can also throw in a trap to his rivals, who do not know very well what to expect, and face a rider that doesn't have a lot to lose - whilst having in Mattias Skjelmose another viable contender for victory, which can open things up for the Danes quite a lot.