"Beating Pogacar... I don’t know how you do that right now" - Jan Bakelants doesn't raise questions on possible Pogacar-Vingegaard battle at Tour de France

Jonas Vingegaard’s fourth stage win at the Giro d’Italia not only confirmed his absolute command of the race, it also reignited the debate over who can truly challenge Tadej Pogacar’s throne at the Tour de France. Is there anyone however? Former pro Jan Bakelants has not yet seen signs that someone can tear apart the Slovenian.

The Dane delivered an unanswerable mountain exhibition and left the general classification effectively sealed with days to spare, consolidating a performance many already rate as one of the most solid of his career - 6.77W/Kg for 30 minutes.

After the stage, former rider and Belgian analyst Jan Bakelants weighed the impact of Vingegaard’s triumph and what it might mean for the next Tour de France. For the analyst, the Dane’s level is a direct warning to the rest of the international contenders, especially at a time when comparisons with Pogacar once again dominate the cycling conversation.

Speaking to Wielerrevue, Bakelants said Vingegaard’s overall victory at the Giro restores a privileged position among those trying to challenge Pogacar’s dominance. “With that overall win at the Giro, he again has a small edge over the other riders who want to try to beat Pogacar, like Remco Evenepoel and Paul Seixas,” he said.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike is also gearing up for the Tour with the likes of Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss to tackle the mountain stages; whilst classics specialists and all-rounders such as Wout Van Aert and Victor Campenaerts can play multiple roles and truly put UAE under pressure.

The Belgian analyst also assessed the evolution of the main challengers trying to close the gap to the Dane and the Slovenian, while stressing the distance remains significant. “We’re all waiting to see whether Evenepoel can at least reduce the gap to Vingegaard and whether Seixas, after what we saw in Liège, can reach that level, but the reality is it won’t be straightforward. You can’t ignore that he’s still the second-best climber in the peloton,” he explained.

The Dutch team has carefully planned Vingegaard's season so as to reach a very high level at the Giro but at the same time, be able to replicate or even improve on that level at the Tour. Thus far, the is being executed to perfection, and his form appears to be improving throughout the Corsa Rosa.

Even so, Bakelants stopped short of placing Vingegaard on the same competitive plane as Pogacar for the next Tour. The Belgian believes this Giro’s context has been less demanding than what awaits in France in the summer.

“Of course we’re not saying we’ll get a thrilling duel with Pogacar at the next Tour, because I think the field at this Giro is fairly weak. For various reasons there isn’t a team like UAE to control the race and there are too many names who will be at the Tour that we can’t properly assess right now,” he noted.

Finally, the former rider summed up the sense of impotence Pogacar currently generates across the peloton. “Beating Pogacar… I don’t know how you do that right now," he stresses. "I genuinely wonder: where do you even start with that?"

That is something in 2025 Visma attempted to do with attacks on the hilly stages, crosswinds and constant attempts to deploy men in breakaways. The fatigue aspect looked to be the team's main weapon, but they were unable to crack the Pogacar armor.