"It can't be a coincidence that Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel & Remco Evenepoel are childless" - Analyst sees Jonas Vingegaard's family life as disadvantage
CyclingTuesday, 10 June 2025 at 09:25
On stage 1 of the 2025 Criterium du Dauphiné, the four biggest names in the peloton all came out to play as Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard launched attacks. According to one Dutch analyst however, taking a wider look at the cycling calendar, Vingegaard is at a distinct disadvantage compared to his rivals.
According to 42-year-old Dutchman Stef Clement, who ended his pro career riding for Team LottoNL-Jumbo - the now-Team Visma | Lease a Bike - Vingegaard's disadvantage when compared to the likes of Pogacar, Van der Poel and Evenepoel, is the fact that the Dane has more of a life away from the bike, with his priorities sometimes being split.
"He’s competing against Pogacar, who seems to have a completely different attitude to life. It can hardly be a coincidence that the wonderkids of the current peloton – Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel, and Remco Evenepoel – are all childless,” says Clement in conversation with Helden Magazine. “I get the sense that they ride with a greater sense of freedom, they find it easier to throw themselves into a race, and they seem able to focus entirely on cycling in a way that’s just a little more complete.”
This split in focus is used as a criticism of Vingegaard from some fans, with the fact that the Dane's season is based around the Tour de France being compared to the year round exploits of his Maillot Jaune rivals Pogacar and Evenepoel. The attitude of Vingegaard is also a let less carefree, according to Clement's colleague Karsten Kroon.
“Vingegaard has previously admitted he struggles with the pressure he feels. That’s something Pogacar doesn’t seem fazed by in the slightest. He just doesn’t care – he’s smiling before the start, during the race, and afterwards,” Kroon analyses. “I believe Vingegaard could absolutely handle racing more frequently – physically, that is. But mentally? I’m not so sure he could cope with that much more racing.”
Read also
🤩 Un final 4 étoiles
— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 8, 2025
A four-star finale 🤩#Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/U1pnSKAuHE
claps 12visitors 9
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Did Froome expect to be at the Tour?Ride197428-06-2025
- zero proof of that. what a negative mean commentmij28-06-2025
- I’m trying to determine whether the writers on this site purposely write misguided headlines for clicks or they simply never took journalism courses.b3tlla28-06-2025
- Wanna make a case for that? Might have been convincing earlier this year but lately?Mistermaumau28-06-2025
- Depends on what you consider important in cycling.Mistermaumau28-06-2025
- How about waiting for an update to include results not available at the time? Top 27 of the available is probably what is meant.Mistermaumau28-06-2025
- Thanks for that, shorter cranks could also allow you to continue pedalling in sharper turns I guess. But, are you saying that commercial bike frames might now start being adapted with a lower option in vue of mounting shorter cranks?Mistermaumau27-06-2025
- Obviously not you presumptuous squeek, seeing as the question was concerning the teams presenting 7, 8, or 9. The site has in the meantime upgraded its presentation to explain which teams are defined but that could not be deduced from the number alone unless there is a rule that forbids starting with a team of 7, I expect you know the answer to that but will refrain from sharing. 8 being the max. still doesn’t mean a list of 8 is definitive and won’t change, and showing 9 is in actually in bad taste (if there is hesitation between 2 or 3 riders then just list the sure starters and wait to complete instead of leaving everyone to guess and not be disappointed which name will be crossed off later). But hey, if you need a punching bag too, feel free.Mistermaumau27-06-2025
- Just checked Pro Cycling Stats. Michael Leonard and Olivia Baril are the new time trial national champions.
santiagobenites27-06-2025 - The decline of Spanish cyclingabstractengineer27-06-2025
The way things are going, especially with men, it may not be long before most will need outside help to have kids at all. Don’t know what it is in our food/water/air/houses/purchases but I’m long past thinking there is only one single cause product and anyway, by the time we know and can prove the culprit(s), they will be impossible to remove even if production were halted. On the other hand, riders are lucky to be living in an era of decent salaries which helps finding partners willing to sacrifice any personal ambitions in order to be total parent in their absence, coz with the salaries of 30-40y ago, any modern girl would tell you to take up hiking instead of counting on her to pursue your dream.