Jonas Vingegaard opens up on Tadej Pogacar rivalry: "I see him win these races and I'm fascinated by who he is as a cyclist"
CyclingSaturday, 28 December 2024 at 09:37
Jonas Vingegaard vs Tadej Pogacar has been the defining Grand Tour rivalry of the 2020s. In 2025, it is expected that chapter 5 of their epic Tour de France tug of war will take place and after Pogacar reclaimed the Maillot Jaune last time out, Vingegaard admits improvement is needed to close the gap.
At the 2024 Tour de France, Vingegaard was soundly bettered by his arch-rival. Other than one incredibly comeback to stage a stage victory on stage 11, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader simply didn't have the answers to the questions posed by Pogacar. That's not to say the Dane wasn't performing at an incredibly high level himself though. "This year was better for me than it's ever been. It's probably been better for him too," Vingegaard explains in quotes collected by Ekstra Bladet. "I can also look at my performance, compared to what I could do in the past, this has been much better on the Plateau de Beille. I remember that the first year I won the Tour (2022, ed.) is almost nothing compared to the wattage we rode this year."
A big reason for this, is the massive step of improvement seemingly taken by Pogacar in 2025, as he rode to a record breaking season of individual brilliance. "I could see what watts I was doing and he was riding away from me, so it's deserved," Vingegaard assesses. "To beat him, I need to go up a level again next year, and I think I can do that."
In fact, the success of Pogacar, is actually proving a big motivational factor for Vingegaard's winter preparation. "I see him win these races and I'm fascinated by who he is as a cyclist," the Dane comments. "I think he's a fantastic cyclist, but it's clear that in everyday life I focus on myself. Here I make myself as good as possible for the races I have to do. I have to hope that it's enough to beat him."
Legendary moments of the 2024 cycling season: Tadej Pogacar drops Jonas Vingegaard on Plateau de Beille, on his way to the greatest climbing performance of ALL-TIME and to the Giro-Tour double.🚀 Surreal day, he made us doubt our stopwatches LOL.pic.twitter.com/89qkPx5w4y
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) December 23, 2024
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- and Mc Nulty....
maria2024202407-05-2025 - mmmmm... AYUSO, Adam, AYUSO, Mc nulty, AYUSO.... UAE without the clear POgacar leadership could be a mess.... we'll see...maria2024202407-05-2025
- he's the most elegant rider in the peloton, like a dancer.maria2024202407-05-2025
- So the Piddie GC experiment is over. He should have done that long agoabstractengineer07-05-2025
- So 50/50 huh? Not much of a prediction there.awp07-05-2025
- TdF history pretty resoundingly proves that may or may not be correct.itsent07-05-2025
- Stage win onlyabstractengineer07-05-2025
- Maybe she was pushed, she seemed too out of control for fellabstractengineer07-05-2025
- He wins the Vuelta because the best don't show up. With how he rides, he's better for the TdF but not good enough for who showsVeganpotter07-05-2025
- True, but unless Tadej or Jonas fall off their bike or get sick, no one is going to beat them. The 2014 Tour was decided by the Shark of Messina long before Contador or Froome were injured. I miss Nibali.awp07-05-2025
Having a competitor is about the only thing that makes top guys better, we’re lucky to be in this era where each helps push the other to a next level we would never see if they’d be able to win complacently. Even Pog or in xc, MVDP or a discipline monster like Primoz can’t/won’t motivate themselves to reach their absolute peaks just for the sake of it.
Pretty classy comments by Jonas. Makes me like him even more.
IMHO, Jonas climbing is a little better than Tadej but I agree with him: unless you are a frustrated hater, it is impossible not to be fascinated by Tadej's versatility. I have never watched Merckx (or Hinault) then I am grateful to live in this period and can watch the awesome Tadej.
Yes, generally Jonas is a better climber than Tadej, but he's a little lighter. This year he was much lighter than he's been since I've watching him, which I think worked against him some. I have a feeling he will bring it next year but we may see something like we saw this year. We'll have to see, can't wait for the racing to start again.
yes, Jonas said that he had lost a little muscle mass. In the other hand, also Tadej changed his physique: thin, more lighter than ever, legs and glutes well defined (finally, no more junior legs). Both were more lighter than ever but Pogi could put more muscle in legs and glutes.
Are we sure about Jonas being a better climber? Ignoring this year, in 2023, even though preparation wasn't ideal for Pogacar and he wasn't 100%, he dropped Jonas on multiple occasions during the Tour. Jonas was just able to last till the end
On the steeper stuff Jonas is a bit more efficient. He's dropped Tadej going back to the 2021 Tour on one occasion.
Puy de Dome was pretty steep
Yes it is, 7.6% average, about 13% max.
He got dropped on a continuous 12% section, the final 4 km
Remember, Jonas dropped Tadej on the Ventoux. Tadej was luck he had a bit of runway so he could get back on.