“In the second Grand Tour, Pogacar has never been there” - Alberto Contador questions key Jonas Vingegaard theory before Tour de France showdown
Cycling
Jonas Vingegaard’s Giro d’Italia dominance has strengthened the sense that he will arrive at the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar’s most serious challenger, but Alberto Contador is not ready to accept one of Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s most important arguments without a tougher test.
Vingegaard left Italy with the maglia rosa, five stage wins and a place alongside cycling’s Triple Crown greats after adding the Giro to his Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana victories. His superiority in the mountains was clear, with Felix Gall, Jai Hindley and Thymen Arensman unable to seriously threaten him across the decisive climbs.
Contador, a former Giro, Tour and Vuelta winner himself and now a Eurosport analyst, believes the Tour question is still more complicated than the final Giro margin suggests. The Spaniard pointed to Visma’s belief that Vingegaard can improve from his first Grand Tour of a season to his second, while warning that the theory has not yet been tested against Pogacar in the same circumstances.
“That theory they have in the team, which surprised me because of how emphatically the director spoke about it, is that in the second Grand Tour he always goes better,” Contador said on Eurosport.
Contador questions the Visma theory
Vingegaard’s 2026 season has so far delivered almost everything Visma could have wanted. Before the Giro, he had already won Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya. In Italy, he added another level of three-week control, repeatedly distancing rivals in the mountains and closing the race with a lead of more than five minutes.
The Tour, though, brings Pogacar back into the equation. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader did not race the Giro, and remains the reigning Tour de France champion. Contador’s doubt is not about whether Vingegaard looked exceptional in Italy, but about how much that tells us before July.
“In the second Grand Tour, so far, Pogacar has never been there,” Contador said. “Now we’ll see when he coincides with Pogacar, when he coincides with Seixas, and we’ll see how he develops.”
That is the part of the debate Visma cannot answer until the Tour begins. Vingegaard has shown that he can dominate a Grand Tour without Pogacar present. He has also shown, across his career, that he can beat Pogacar at the Tour. What has not yet happened is this exact version of the plan: win the Giro, absorb the effort, then face Pogacar in July with the claim that the second Grand Tour brings an even higher level.
Giro dominance still leaves one unanswered question
Contador also placed Vingegaard’s Giro wins in context. Gall, Hindley and Arensman all produced strong races, but none arrived in Italy with the same standing as Pogacar in a Tour de France duel. Vingegaard was the overwhelming favourite before the Giro began, and the race unfolded increasingly around his superiority.
The next challenge is not only the quality of opposition. It is the accumulated load of the Giro itself. Contador noted that three weeks of racing create a different kind of fatigue to a controlled altitude camp, even for a rider who appeared to finish the race with something still in reserve.
That makes Visma’s recovery window one of the central questions before Barcelona. Vingegaard will take confidence, rhythm and a completed Grand Tour set from Italy. He will also carry the effects of a Giro in which he raced hard enough to win five stages and control the high mountains.
Contador’s final warning was broader than Vingegaard alone. “The watts, what you are capable of doing now, next year that is not enough to win,” he said. “You have to do a little bit more, and that comes through small details.”
Jonas Vingegaard showered in pink confetti during the 2026 Giro d'Italia
Tour showdown moves the debate onto the road
The Giro changed Vingegaard’s season and his place in history. It did not settle the Tour de France argument. Pogacar will return as the rider who has defined the past two Tours, while Vingegaard arrives with the confidence of a near-perfect spring and a Giro victory that few riders in the modern era would even attempt before July.
Contador’s view does not dismiss Vingegaard’s form. It simply adds the missing opponent back into the conversation. Visma’s theory may yet prove correct, but the Tour will be the first time this version of Vingegaard’s second-Grand-Tour plan meets Pogacar directly.
For now, Vingegaard has the Giro, the momentum and the historic milestone. Contador’s question is whether that same momentum survives when the rider waiting across the road is Pogacar.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
- He just doesn't have the desire anymore. I read an article earlier today that said he almost retired last year. His reasoning was he is away from home to much. Visma was able to keep him riding by allowing him to skip certain camps. So, while currently Visma is doing altitude work...Jonas is at home. Which means 2 things. 1- He maybe fresher than other riders. But, not the condition. 2-Is a somewhat slap in the face to others on the team that are supposed to help him win. Yet feel like he hasn't done what they have so perhaps they don't provide as good of protection or they ride more for theme (which the team may not notice).md197514-11-2026
- Roglic could not have won anyway, after Jonas followed him when Roglic decided it was his turn for a stage win. Jonas had already attacked Kuss twice, so it was Jonas who was within seconds of taking the lead before Kuss was 'gifted' the win. It felt a bit like Roglic was being thrown under the bus when the team made his unhappiness public.Hills3314-11-2026
- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
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