“I don’t think Vingegaard would dare to go to the Giro" - Brian Holm expects full Tour de France focus from Visma leader in 2025

After two seasons of domination, Jonas Vingegaard was forced to pass on the crown of Tour de France victory to his arch-rival Tadej Pogacar in 2024. Although there were of course, mitigating circumstances, Vingegaard's compatriot Brian Holm expects the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader to fully focus on reclaiming the Maillot Jaune. 

The aforementioned Pogacar has simply been so good in 2024 that many can't see even Vingegaard overturning the deficit in time for the 2025 Tour de France and as such, there have been a number of reports that the Dane could instead split his attentions to either the Giro d'Italia and / or a World Championships debut in Rwanda. As mentioned though, it is the belief of Holm that Vingegaard will instead focus fully on reclaiming the Tour de France victory.

“It would be great if he tried it,” says Holm, himself a seven time Tour de France competitor, in his analysis for Eurosport Denmark. “But I’m afraid we wouldn’t see him at the World Championships. I don’t think Vingegaard would dare to go to the Giro, but on the other hand I don’t think he would go to the Vuelta a Espana after the Tour. I could be wrong and it would be great if he did.”

So why no Giro d'Italia in 2025? Holm believes he has an answer for that. "Vingegaard is not like Pogacar and does not enjoy the media attention as much as he does. We know how important his family is and three weeks is a long time away from his wife and children," the 62-year-old muses.

Nevertheless, Holm fully backs Vingegaard to overcome Pogacar in 2025. "I hope he's thinking he can do the same. He was recovering from some serious injuries when he rode the Tour de France, so I'm sure he thinks he can challenge Pogacar. That's how the mentality of great athletes works. The day he doesn't think he can compete with the best riders is probably the day he should consider ending his career," Holm concludes. “I would focus 110% on the Tour, I would say that you have to put all your eggs in one basket. It is a race in which he has already had tremendous success.”