"He looks good. That is motivating" - Jonas Vingegaard responds to Tadej Pogacar's incredible Strade Bianche success
Cycling
Later this summer, chapter 4 of the epic Tour de France rivalry between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard takes place. With both riders already having early victories under their belt this year, it looks set to be another fantastic battle.
Last Saturday, Pogacar put down an early marker by destroying a top-quality field at Strade Bianche with an incredible 81km solo victory. “I was travelling and so I didn’t see Strade Bianche but I know Tadej did an 80km attack and that’s quite impressive,” Vingegaard says of Pogacar’s victory to Cycling News before he starts Tirreno-Adriatico on Monday. “He looks good, so we have to consider him as an opponent as always. When someone is that good, you also have to be good, so you have to put in the hard work too. That is motivating.”
At Tirreno-Adriatico, Vingegaard is the heavy favourite for overall victory, although competition will come from the likes of Juan Ayuso, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jai Hindley among others. “I was second two years ago and hopefully I can at least fight for the victory this year,” Vingegaard says. “I’d say it’s the first big goal of the spring. I’m not racing a lot but I’m still racing quite a bit and for me it’s a nice goal. It’s one of the biggest races outside of the Grand Tours and definitely one I’d love to win."
With victory at Gran Camino already under his belt too, Vingegaard is understandably full of confidence. “I was lucky not to get sick at Gran Camiño. I had a decent week, I didn’t lose any form and I was able to recover. It was a good decision not to do Strade Bianche too, it would have been a bit too much. But it’s a cool race that I love to watch. I like gravel when it's a one-day race like Strade Bianche," he assesses.
Being a Dutch expat living in the US (41 years already), I can honestly say it's been very tough to closely following professional cycling. Not all that long ago, perhaps ten to twelve years, I was dependent on satellite hacks listed on the steephill.tv web site. But it got a little better when NBC Sports started to broadcast most races 'owned' by the Tour de France owners. But that's, of course, a mere handful, so VPN! That went well for a year and a half and then AT&T, my Internet provider, not only cut me off but disabled my PC. GCN! Until they went away. But guess what? For the first time, a major broadcasting company here, MAX/HBO (WarnerMedia and Discovery), took control and now, since two weeks ago, I can actually watch Eurosport. In fact, the latter starts tomorrow morning (7:05) with the Tireno, followed by NBC at a quarter past nine with Paris - Nice. All offer complete replays. What a treat for an old guy whose first memory of the Tour de France was the victory of Federico Bahamontes. Have fun this week, y'all!
I gave up watching images, now I either follow race commentary on certain websites or just wait for results and review clips when something amazing is said to have happened. All this real-time viewing has become an impediment to living your life. The last images I watched live were 2012 when I could do the ironing during the TdF, that’s how exciting it actually gets 98% of the time.
Ironing during the TdF? Ha! I blame my 'fixation' on our old neighbor, Jan Janssen, 1969 Tour winner. The stuff I could tell you :o) Cheers!
Erm, 1968! My year ;-) Even though many people (in cycling) don’t seem to know this. If you Google the question if any Dutch have won, the referenced website scandalously claims : « No, the Netherlands has not won the Tour de France. The Tour de France is an annual road cycling race held in France. It is the most prestigious and most difficult race in the world. The Netherlands has had some success in the race, with four riders finishing in the top 10 in the past decade. However, the country has never won the race.«
Oops, you're right. Jeebus. 1968. Also, Joop Zoetemelk, 1980. Tom Dumoulin could've. Maybe Thymen Arensman in the future.
I don’t know, Dutch* men ain’t what they used to be ;-) (like in ice skating, and even football I guess) but the women more than make up for it (sportswise). *Mathieu has French genes too
Stop it! I was military skating champion 5 and 10 k back in the day. Just before Eric Heiden. 66? 67?
Just in
NEW: WorldTour Manager Cyclinguptodate.com (FREE)
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Popular news
Latest comments
- No one cares what Armstrong says. Please stop giving him oxygen.Al17-03-2025
- Is that we including Ratcliffe or not?Mistermaumau16-03-2025
- Interesting idea, probably need some more conditions like age in order to stop certain teams filling the rosters with fake development riders.Mistermaumau16-03-2025
- But it wouldn't be a terrible idea IF you were only allowed to put in a rider from development team for the last stage of the stage race. Extra experience for them, real racing, pro peloton and very unlikely they will make any actual differencevappaxbipmv16-03-2025
- You don't have domestique, Tom. It's a problem. Without Del Toro, for sure Ayuso would not be in front of you.
maria2024202416-03-2025 - yesEvan16-03-2025
- He’s not unlike SK, people just don’t want to accept their decisionsMistermaumau16-03-2025
- Really happy for Matteo, especially despite not having much team support over the last couple of days. He's strong and in great form. He'll be a strong teammate for Jonas in the Tour. Also happy for Magnus—he's had a tough two years, and this is a well-earned reward for his dedication. Ineos have really come out fighting this year and I'm really liking this from them.Pedalmasher16-03-2025
- Is this a joke?Jkolner12316-03-2025
- He has declined leadership though in the past? Lack of confidence? Hedging your bets works sometimes, at other times it is better to commit and go in big.Cyclingsbestfan16-03-2025