"I have to be better than I was 2 years ago" - Jonas VIngegaard on beating Pogacar in the Dauphiné and Tour de France
Cycling
Jonas Vingegaard's return to competition is imminent. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider is taking on the Criterium du Dauphiné, where he's won in the past, and is ready to take on Tadej Pogacar after three months in the sidelines. The Dane is set to be the main rival of the World Champion in what is a mammoth task: Win the Tour de France.
The Dane will face Tadej Pogacar twice. The Visma - Lease a Bike leader has not faced his arch-rival since the last Grande Boucle in the summer of 2024. After a difficult start to the season, in which he suffered a concussion at Paris-Nice which ended his spring calendar, he has focused on training and getting back to his level before returning to racing.
Speaking to Eurosport, Jonas Vingegaard spoke about these upcoming targets, knowing that he and Pogacar will be the main protagonists throughout:
"I have always enjoyed this process of reaching the highest possible level for the Tour de France. The Tour is always the big goal and I love working hard in training camp," Vingegaard said of his preparation in Dauphiné. He has spent time in Sierra Nevada with his Visma teammates, but he was not the only one. Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and several others spent a large portion of May in the area.
To beat Tadej Pogacar, the Dane is aware that his level must be well above that of the Vingegaard who won the Tour de France in 2023: "Everyone is stepping up, so I have to be better than I was 2 years ago. Last year I also had the feeling I could fight for the victory, but obviously it wasn't like that," added the two-time winner.
Despite the tough results in 2024, Vingegaard concluded his remarks by saying that he is in a very different form from last season, which makes him very excited about the two races he will be competing in in the near future: "This year I feel completely different, both in how my body responds to training and how I feel physically".
This could be a good sign, adding to that of Simon Yates just winning the Giro d'Italia with a formidable performance in the mountains of the final week. Next week in France we will have a good idea of how the two are measuring up ahead of the Tour.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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