"I think he can get a lot of victories" - Alberto Contador on Jonas Vingegaard's La Vuelta return
Cycling
The Vuelta a España 2025 is just around the corner and Alberto Contador, former winner of this race and current commentator on Eurosport Spain, has shared his opinions on the race as well as casting a warning to Jonas Vingegaard.
The Spaniard is very clear that the Dane is the strongest cyclist in the world in stage-races only behind Tadej Pogacar and, although he thinks he is the big favorite to win, he does not put pressure on him and believes that it would not be a failure if he did not manage to take the victory next Sunday, September 14 in Madrid.
"Everyone knows that Vingegaard is the second best Grand Tour rider behind Pogacar. It's true that if he missed out on victory it would be surprising, but he has nothing to prove." Considering that the Vuelta a España 2025 has numerous mountain stages that are well suited to the characteristics of Jonas Vingegaard, Alberto Contador is very clear that the Dane can raise his arms more than once, something he believes he should try to do:
"With eight summit finishes (correction: there are more, ed.), I think he can get a lot of victories. Visma is a very strong team with a big budget and they have to get as many wins as possible. He is the top favorite and is a step above the rest, but in a Grand Tour many things can happen". Specially in a season where the Visma leader hasn't yet won at World Tour level, a boost in confidence is also necessary.
Finally, when asked about the possibility of Vingegaard becoming a real rival of Pogacar and Van der Poel in the great classics or monuments of world cycling, the Madrid-born rider believes so, although he qualifies some races in which, due to the type of rider, he does not see him competing against the favorites:
"Maybe I don't know about Flanders, but some other classics I think so. He's a rider who handles himself very well. He has an interesting sprint in case he arrives with a rider. I think he's a good option".
For races such as Il Lombardia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège it would make full sense to see the Dane trying to aim for a strong result as these monuments are battled between the climbers every year now, and both this year's World and European Championships courses are also aimed towards these riders.
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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Rafionain-Glas01-11-2026 - I think other competitors also had great Tours, so it wasn't that Ferrand-Prévot necessarily failed in some way - it's more likely that the other top riders lifted their game and maybe also a bit of luck with no crashes, etc. It's the Tour de France after all. It's not meant to be easy to defend your title (the few exceptions like Pogacar prove the rule).Pogboom01-11-2026
- maybe we should put our cv at the end of each comment post ... same rights for all of us!Ketterechts01-11-2026
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- Hey @frieder3, yeah sure, bull crap. What experience? You have no experience, you're an amateur cyclist... and to make things even worse, you're a lousy amateur cyclist. So what you're saying about your C7 has no relevance... do you even know where C7 is in your body? No, it's not in your knee!!! PS: Trump loves ya... 😍😍😍PogiSloFans01-11-2026
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