"He showed that Pogacar also has limits" - Bjarne Riis predicts epic showdown between Vingegaard and Pogacar for the rest of Tour
Cycling
Jonas Vingegaard was the most pleasant of all surprises on the stage 4 of Tour de France, being the only man capable of countering Tadej Pogacar on the steep Rampe Saint-Hilaire. If Vingegaard can be on par with the Slovenian in classics-like stages like this one, we may only look forward to seeing the battle in high mountains in second half of the Tour.
"I just had time to think 'oh,' when he was put down, but Jonas still got back up," says Bjarne Riis who is commentating Tour de France as expert for the Danish BT.
For a brief moment, it seemed like Pogacar would eventually break the Dane just under the top, but the Slovenian needed to slow down a few meters further too, allowing Vingegaard to recover his wheel. "Both he and Pogacar were on the limit, and it was positive that he could close the gap. It showed that Pogacar also has his limits. Although it seemed a little strange that Jonas just stopped before he gave it another go."
"It's going to be really exciting from here on out. Jonas is not far from him, so anything can happen," says Riis about Vingegaard, who is eight seconds behind his rival in the general classification (due to bonification seconds).
Vingegaard declared before the start of Tour that he had worked on his explosiveness, something we can see has borne fruits in the opening stages. "Jonas has definitely put in some effort. His explosiveness has improved somewhat," he assesses about Vingegaard's finish and third place in Rouen.
Mattias Skjelmose
Not only Vingegaard was representing Denmark at the front of the race today. His compatriot Mattias Skjelmose also put in a tremendous effort to almost comeback to the group of favourites. Eventually it was a 9th place for the Lidl-Trek rider who enters the top-10 in GC after the stage.
"It was a good ride by Skjelmose, he's quietly sneaking up. He has to hang on as long as he can. When he can't be in the classification anymore, he has to go after stage wins. He's not the deadly threat to the others, but he can sneak away at the right times."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026 - I like Del Toro but he's not on the level of Jonas, by a large margin.awp12-11-2026
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