Jonas Vingegaard finding La Vuelta easier without Tadej Pogacar's looming shadow: "When he’s around, you have to test him every single day, trying to find any weak spot"

On the second rest day of the 2025 Vuelta a España, race leader Jonas Vingegaard appears calm, composed, and quietly confident — a rider in control. But what’s striking isn’t just his form or the 48-second gap he holds over João Almeida. It’s the absence of a certain name from the equation: Tadej Pogacar.

Speaking to Danish media TV2 ahead of the decisive third week, Vingegaard didn’t shy away from admitting that the Vuelta, at least this time, feels like a different beast without the Slovenian superstar breathing down his neck.

“Pogacar’s not here, of course, and that does make things a bit easier in some ways,” Vingegaard said with a wry smile. “When he’s around, you more or less have to test him every single day, trying to find any weak spot. Without him, it becomes a different kind of race.”

Vingegaard has spent the last two few years locked in a high-stakes, high-altitude chess match with Pogacar, their rivalry defining not only the Tour de France but the broader narrative arc of modern Grand Tour racing. With Pogacar sitting out the Vuelta after defeating Vingegaard at the Tour earlier this summer though, the Danish Tean Visma | Lease a Bike leader suddenly finds himself as the undisputed top dog — but not without challengers.

Chief among them is João Almeida, Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates - XRG teammate and currently second overall. The two are now poised for a showdown in the upcoming individual time trial — a discipline where Almeida, statistically, has held a slight edge in their head-to-head battles.

According to ProCyclingStats, the Portuguese rider leads their mutual ITT record 4–3, something that Vingegaard himself seemed surprised to hear. “Oh really? Is that so?” he responded when informed by TV2. “Well, that’s interesting. It really depends on the day. He’s a very strong time trialist – and just a really solid rider overall. But to be honest, I’m mainly focused on myself and on doing the best time trial I possibly can.”

Vingegaard was frank about the stage profile not playing entirely to his strengths. “The course doesn’t suit me perfectly. We did almost the exact same one two years ago, and it didn’t go particularly well. I’m hoping for a better performance this time around.”

Still, Vingegaard doesn’t sound like a rider who’s rattled — just one who knows that in Grand Tours, margins are everything. And despite two stage wins and a commanding position, he remains cautious. “I’m 100 per cent convinced I can do it,” he said of his GC ambitions. “We’ve got a really strong team, and I feel like I’m getting better and better. I’ve had a few good days so far – but also some that were less than ideal. Still, I believe I’ll continue to improve as this Vuelta progresses.”