“I saw a broken man today" - Bradley Wiggins claims Jonas Vingegaard may abandon Tour de France after Tourmalet defeat
Cycling
The Tour de France is wide open with only six stages completed, featuring a Grand Depart with three consecutive days for the overall classification contenders and this Thursday a mammoth mountain stage in the Pyrenees. After being defeated by Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard might consider pulling out of the Tour, according to Bradley Wiggins.
Wiggins argues Vingegaard may leave Tour de France
The winner of the 2012 edition has been part of The Move podcast during the ongoing Grand Boucle and has shared his opinion amongst the likes of Lance Armstrong and George Hincapie. As a former winner, the Briton has a lot of experience when it comes to the preparation, efforts and detail-oriented mindset that is required to fight for the race.
On stage 6, UAE Team Emirates - XRG decimated the field on the Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet, where Tadej Pogacar attacked to victory. Whilst the gap at the top to Vingegaard at the summit was of around 30 seconds, this multiplied several times on the descent and final climb to Gavarnie later on.
Vingegaard finished second on the day, still holding off the chasing group of Remco Evenepoel, Paul Seixas, and others; but the gap at the finish was 2:38 minutes to the Slovenian - who is now back in the yellow jersey.
A difficult gap to cut, and a deja vu to the past two editions of the Tour, where Pogacar had a firm hold of the race when the mountains arrived.
Jonas Vingegaard crossing the finish line in Gavarnie with his head down was a striking image
“I saw a broken man today,” Wiggins argued on The Move. “In recent years, whenever he has been second, he has remained positive and said he would keep putting pressure on Pogacar all the way to Paris.”
That continues being the case, but hopes of overturning the race lead of Pogacar are dim, despite the early moment of the race. The presence of a peak form Isaac del Toro supporting Pogacar also helps UAE's case.
However Wiggins took his argument to an extreme level. “But how many years can you keep doing that? How many years do you want to finish second? After seeing him today, I have a feeling he may not finish the race," the Briton argued.
"It is a wild thing to say, but we are here to give our opinions.”
Read also
Is Vingegaard Tadej Pogacar's only rival?
At the time being, the leader of Team Visma | Lease a Bike was Pogacar's closest rival on the hilltop finish to Les Angles and on the Tourmalet, establishing the expected hierarchy in the fight for the yellow jersey.
As the race moves forward, it is possible to see Vingegaard's form improve, as he came straight from the Giro d'Italia.
However, Pogacar might be his own biggest rival - as has happened in previous editions - whilst we may see external factors such as the extreme heat potentially having a bigger influence in the overall classification as the race moves forward. It increases chances of a bad day or a collapse, which seems to be the only way in which Pogacar will get dethroned until Paris.
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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