“It would have been really interesting to have raced against them in my best years" - Chris Froome confident he could have challenged Pogacar & Vingegaard for Tour de France

The recent chapters in the long story of the Tour de France have been dominated by two men, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. In the 2010s however, Chris Froome was the all-conquering figure atop the general classification.

Always a thought-provoking question for cycling fans though is how would the last generation have fared competing against the new generation? Who would win a dream Tour de France between Froome, Pogacar and Vingegaard if all three were at their respective peaks? “It would have been really interesting to have raced against them in my best years,” admitted Froome in conversation with Eurosport. “It would have been interesting to see."

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Although Froome has as many Maillot Jaune's on his palmares as both Pogacar and Vingegaard combined, the now 38-year-old, who's still active in the peloton at Israel - Premier Tech, has seen a marked difference in the age of the top riders since his era at the top. "There's definitely a pattern of guys coming in at a much higher level from a younger age," he explains. "I believe that's because of the amount of information available to coaches who are then training younger athletes. I think there are kids of the age 12, 13 years old, almost training like professionals. By the time they're 18, they've already been doing it for five to six years already, training correctly, eating correctly. As you've seen, they're ready to win the world's biggest races in their early 20s already. It's quite amazing to witness.”

“It goes in waves. At the moment, it definitely seems to feel like a wave of the Jumbo-Visma team having won all the Grand Tours last year. But cycling is a sport that's always evolving, always changing, and there will always be new rivals coming up. Let's see. I think it's very rare in this day and age to see one rider really dominating everything the way Eddy Merckx did back in his era," he continues. “I think the sport's just evolved so much and become so specific that it's very hard for someone to be good over all types of terrain. That's one thing that Tadej Pogacar really impresses me in the sense that he's able to win one-day Classics like Flanders or Strade Bianche and also be there challenging in the Grand Tours, so it's very impressive.”

So, what do you think? Three-week stage race, all at their peak, who would win, Froome, Pogacar or Vingegaard? Let us know your thoughts!

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