"Jonas will win the Tour de France" - Mads Pedersen is impressed by the level of his compatriot
Cycling
Mads Pedersen is currently resting after the successful Giro d'Italia campaign. That means he had enough time to watch his compatriot Jonas Vingegaard fly on the opening stage of Criterium du Dauphiné. Even though the brave attack wasn't rewarded with a sweer victory, the Lidl-Trek star was pleasantly surprised by the level of two-time Tour de France champion.
"It was an insane stage. It was good to see. Great to see Jonas again. He's entering Pogacar's own territory, so it could be that Tadej didn't expect this," said Pedersen in the podcast Lang Distance.
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Pedersen saw that even Pogacar hesitated for a moment when Vingegaard unleashed his horses. "You can see that Tadej has the time to think: 'What the hell is happening here, what is this?' He also didn't close that gap as easily as he might have thought. You really saw him grit his teeth to close that gap. Great Jonas. Great, great, great, great," Pedersen applauds his compatriot.
Despite his effort, Vingegaard was unable to win the sprint against faster men in the group. Pedersen is not in the slightest bit concerned by that. "He has everything to gain and nothing to lose. Imagine if he had won the stage... You wouldn't have believed it with that group. Crazy, brilliant. Even though they didn't win a single second."
After seeing the level of Vingegaard, his compatriot has no doubts that the Tour de France score will be tied at 3-3 in July again. "I'll just throw it out there: Jonas wins the Tour," he sounded confidently.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Roglic could not have won anyway, after Jonas followed him when Roglic decided it was his turn for a stage win. Jonas had already attacked Kuss twice, so it was Jonas who was within seconds of taking the lead before Kuss was 'gifted' the win. It felt a bit like Roglic was being thrown under the bus when the team made his unhappiness public.Hills3314-11-2026
- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
- Martinez had a good year! 5th at the Tour was a great result for him, albeit largely through getting in successful breaks, but he held it better than Pidcock who’d done the same.Lozza14-11-2026
- guess what Valgren, you're 34, and no you're not good enough. sorry to say.mij14-11-2026
- I'm a sepp fan and like to think he earned that LOL, indulge me : ) I think Jonas was fine. Roglic did not want to concede to Sepp. and I don't think you ever attack your own teammate in the leaders jersey if he is holding his own, which Sepp just about was.mij14-11-2026
- enough time? he's 24 years old. He's won 10 races over the last 2 years and some are significant. I won't argue about his attitude being good - it needs to improve. But with some coaching and mentorship he has a lot of winning ahead of him and has plenty of time to win a GT. I don't think he will ever beat Tadej, but everyone else is fair game Look at Mas and Valverde - they were 31 and 29, respectively, when they won the Vuelta.mij14-11-2026
- Pogacar has a fine head on his shoulders.Careful investments and a couple of coffee shops sounds like a wonderful way to chill after an intense career.Stay healthy GOAT.
Brucegel14-11-2026 - I live in Maribor.PogiSloFans14-11-2026
- I live in Ljubljana and often go on trips in the surrounding area, where I frequently see young cyclists in 'Pogi Team' jerseys training, either alone or in groups. By simply motivating so many young people to take up cycling, Tadej has already achieved something truly significant.Velijo14-11-2026
- That's an excellent point. It's interesting that Vader came to that realization only after he learned that his contract wasn't going to be renewed.
santiagobenites14-11-2026
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