"Jonas Vingegaard is the favourite for the Tour de France” insists UAE's Joxean Matxin
Cycling
Many would consider Tadej Pogacar the hot favourite to get the third Maillot Jaune of his career at the upcoming Tour de France. According to the Slovenian's UAE Team Emirates boss Joxean Matxin however, that status remains with Jonas Vingegaard.
Whether or not the two-time, back-to-back Tour de France-winning Dane will even make it to the race this year remains unconfirmed however, after a nasty crash at the Itzulia Basque Country saw Vingegaard suffer a fractured collarbone, fractured rib(s) and a pneumothorax. According to Matxin though, there is little doubt about Vingegaard defending his Tour de France crown and the UAE Team Emirates boss is expecting the 27-year-old not just be at the startline but to be very much fighting fit.
“That Vingegaard had a serious crash in the Itzulia Basque Country? Last year, Tadej crashed three weeks later in April and was in Vingegaard's slipstream until the Tour de France's time trial," Matxin recalls in conversation with Sporza, explaining his viewpoint. "Vingegaard will also have been on almost constant altitude training for this Tour and he is the leader of the team that won the three Grand Tours last year. Jonas Vingegaard is the top favourite for the Tour de France.”
It's not just Vingegaard that Matxin sees as a viable threat to his Giro d'Italia winning team leader either. “I will certainly also take Primoz Roglic, Aleksandr Vlasov and Remco Evenepoel into account,” Matxin notes, although the immense strength of UAE Team Emirates lineup around their leader is a massive benefit. “We certainly have a great team for the Tour (including Juan Ayuso, João Almeida, Adam Yates, Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler, Nils Politt and Tim Wellens ed.). Tadej is our only leader. But there are still teams with a strong leader.”
Finally, Matxin also took time to address the rumours of a potential Vuelta a Espana appearance for Pogacar if the Tour de France joins the Giro d'Italia on his list of successes for 2024. “Winning the three Grand Tours in the same year is great for the history books, but that is not the case this year," Matxin concludes, echoing the thoughts of Pogacar himself. "The Vuelta was never on Pogacar's schedule.”
This is such a coward move by UAE 😂 Imagine being so afraid of being heralded as favourites that you make a rider who broke most of his upper body less than 2 months ago today favourite for the overall win of the GC. They also just want it to look more impressive when Pogi beats Jonas. It's also a lie that he has been at altitude for weeks. Sure, he has been in Mallorca, but his trainer confirmed he was only doing soft training and was mostly there to ride in the sun and be with his family.
I don’t know where the altitude info came from but for sure no-one goes to Mallorca for that, you can barely get over 1000m and hardly stay there.
He said "will have been" if I'm not mistaken, meaning he will have been training at altitude for weeks by the start of the tour. And it's nothing strange or cowardly in saying this. They're simply putting the pressure off Pogi and onto Jonas
So the tactic is to take the focus off Tadej /UAE and put it on Jonas /Visma. It's much safer to say that than putting the pressure on yourself. Well played.
He can try but I’m pretty sure most unbiaised fans have long since concluded there is no real favourite at this time, which is a reason why there is so much interest already.
What do you mean by 'there is no real favorite' ?. Is Tadej looks alike a monkey?
A fully fit Jonas would be the favourite for sure. However either spring he has had, I am not sure if he is really the favourite or not.
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- Sad if confirmed but like Tadej, he’ll be happy it didn’t turn out to be a disaster. Curious to know how it happened uphill.Mistermaumau13-03-2025
- Jonas anandons tomorrow. He was saying farewell to teammates and staff at the finish lineCaralladas13-03-2025
- And considering the details coming out, I’d like to hear from all those mocking his annoyance of having to ride in yesterday’s weather, don’t think they’d have ridden to the end that way with a probable broken hand. Also, he was only one of a very large number equally critical that NOBODY criticised, including Jorgenson, Sheffield and the peleton spokesman. O’connor was probably the most upset by it all but doesn’t seem to have spoken about it?Mistermaumau13-03-2025
- I was wondering what really happened, if he was just not yet peaking at this time of the year, or if this just wasn't going to be his year, but apparently the accident affected him.Ride197413-03-2025
- There is good in everyone. Hitler was kind to his dog wasn't he?Cyclingsbestfan13-03-2025
- We all hope it, like parents, but those type of children only learn from their own mistakes ;-) Yeah, feel lucky I heal pretty fast, even at advanced age but we don’t really get to see how things look under their clothes. For sure they have better pain killers but I don’t ever remember feeling much pain when in a state to ride on, the adrenaline seems to just focus on that one objective. Later is another thing, I once (only time ever) fainted in the shower an hour post accident when trying to clean a wound, luckily another rider who’d witnessed it had sacrificed himself not to leave my side.Mistermaumau13-03-2025
- Yep. But if you hit something stationary at 40 mph, your life is changed. And even just sliding ... the fastest I ever crashed was 35 mph in a race, and it was almost 2 months before the last scabs disappeared. These guys heal much faster, but the pain is the same. I am hoping P is more careful so that he has a long career that ends when he decides. But he doesn't seem built that way.
Barney13-03-2025 - He’s lucky Mohoriç warned him not to follow (and that for once he listened to wiser) because the way M only just avoided disaster that day, T would have done a Senna. Regarding the 40mph, it’s not usually hitting the deck that’s crucial, it’s acrobatics and stationary objects that refuse to move much that do the damage.Mistermaumau13-03-2025
- If you consider ALL the details, things were not as bad as we’ve come to expect from organisers, especially lately, however much can still be improved, especially communication wise. I guess saying the race is neutralised is maybe not enough to be clear in the “heat” of the action, perhaps adding a warning to stay tuned and not remove earpieces, to know if and when the race might resume would help. Weather is completely random so it can go both ways when things reach a limit and BOTH sides should always be prepared for that. As for harshness of conditions, 10cm of snow is less dangerous and difficult than sleet or iced roads, riding on without stopping is easier than restarting after cooling off, everyone is different, Hinault was kind of a European average built man with his 173/68 at the time, Jonas could play an extra in a concentration camp scene, all respect for him and all the others for finishing, some people’s moaning (from their comfy sofa) made it sound like he abandoned before complaining.Mistermaumau13-03-2025
- I was thinking the exact same thing as Kelly in the moment before the crash: if Pidcock is backing off your wheel while bombing a descent, you are going too fast. So many people talk about how dominant Pogacar is and how boring this makes cycling. However, with the stomach-churning risks he takes, his era could end on any day, just as it did for Froome and Bernal. I was surprised to see him remount after hitting the deck at 40-plus mph. I understand why his girlfriend can't even watch his descents. I am going to enjoy his time while it lasts.Barney13-03-2025