Jonas Vingegaard wants to study Tadej Pogacar's Giro-Tour double to see how he can succeed in it in the future: "We'll have to wait and see how Tadej does that"

In the past decade riders such as Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali made the Giro-Tour (or Tour-Vuelta) double mythical goals within modern cycling. Over the past few years less riders have been trying to accomplish this, but Tadej Pogacar is diving head first into this adventure in 2024. Jonas Vingegaard may follow suit if the Slovenian shows his best level in both.

“I was at my best then in France. That was not the case in Spain. I find it difficult to say whether you can race at the same level in two Grand Tours. But that's also because I got sick during the Vuelta, so I never discovered my real level there," Vingegaard told Wielerflits in Spain, where he started his season today at Gran Camiño. "It is therefore difficult to say whether that combination is possible. It also depends on how Tadej comes out of the Giro, how good he can be in the Tour. Many things influence this."

Vingegaard will be closely watching his rival on TV throughout the month of May. Vingegaard will most likely be training at altitude in Tenerife, as well as preparing for the Criterium du Dauphiné specifically through those days. Pogacar sets out to win the Giro d'Italia, and arrive at the Tour de France spearheading an incredibly strong UAE Team Emirates lineup that looks to break Team Visma | Lease a Bike's seal of the race lead.

"Before I ever want to try that combination myself, I first want to know whether it is possible to reach the same level in a Vuelta after the Tour," Vingegaard says. He is likely to race the Vuelta this year after the Tour, following last season's quite successful attempt (having finished second, only behind teammate Sepp Kuss). "Maybe I'll find out this year when we do that combination. We will only decide that after the Tour. We must also try to prevent getting sick. So we first need to know what my level can be in a second Grand Tour without any difficulties arising. We'll have to wait and see how Tadej does that.”

Assuming all goes well, it is very much a possibility that Vingegaard could then make a Giro d'Italia debut in 2025, combining it with the Tour de France. “It's something I want to try. But again: for that I will first have to make the Tour-Vuelta combination a success. Otherwise I don't think I will ever do the combination Tour with the Giro."

In the past he's also proposed the idea of riding all three Grand Tours, as Sepp Kuss has done this past season. He likes to play around with the idea still, he admits: "Will I, like Kuss, do all three Grand Tours in one year? If the original plan is the Giro-Tour and I could win both, then I think you should also try to win the Vuelta. I can't imagine doing the Giro instead of the Tour. Maybe I will think differently if I don't win the Tour two or three times in a row. But as defending champion I will always go for the Tour again.”

However he admits that he does not want to solely focus on the Grand Tours throughout the entirety of his career. Although he is far from a one-day race specialist, his climbing capacity absolutely puts him in range of conquering a monument: “It would be nice to fight for a win in the Tour of Lombardy and Liège-Bastogne-Liège," he admits. "But for me the Tour is still the biggest race in cycling. That will normally always be my main goal in a season".

"There are also plenty of things to improve. I surprised myself in the time trial in the Tour last year, but in general I still have some areas to work on. In the bike we have made some small improvements in terms of weight and I would like to be a little more explosive. However, that is a fine balance, because you lose a little more power for the longer climbs. But I trust my trainer 100% on that," he concluded.