As the 2024 Tour de France reaches its second rest day, it looks like being an uphill challenge for Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader, Jonas Vingegaard to claim a third successive Maillot Jaune victory. After 15 stages of racing, the Dane trials his great rival Tadej Pogacar by more than three minutes.
The fact another Tour de France victory looks incredibly difficult, is not a fact lost upon those closest to Vingegaard either. "I can only hope for the top of the podium, but I can see that right now it looks bleak," explains the 27-year-old's wife Trine in conversation with Danish outlet, TV2.
According to the numbers at least, Vingegaard is climbing as well as he ever has, despite the fact that just a few months ago, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader was in intensive care with a punctured lung following a horrific crash at the Itzulia Basque Country. As such, Trine doesn't head into the final week of the 2024 Tour de France completely hopeless, despite the long odds.
"I don't think he has ever ridded better. I think Tadej has raced from a completely different world. I think he surprises. He is both explosive and persistent," she analyses of the opening two week tussle between the storied Maillot Jaune rivals. Can Vingegaard pull off what would be one of the most incredible Tour de France victories of all time though? "I dare not predict victory," answers the Dane's wife honestly.
As mentioned, 15 stages down and at the second rest day, Vingegaard now trails Pogacar by just over three minutes (3:09) and although it's not a completely unassailable lead for the Slovenian, given his immense form throughout 2024, it's getting harder and harder to see how the momentum could be overturned in the final few stages.
🇩🇰 Jonas Vingegaard after Stage 15 🗣️ "This was the performance of my life. I can't be disappointed. I can be proud of the way the team and I rode. Tadej was simply way stronger. You don't go to #TDF2024 without trying to beat him. I never doubted our plan." (Sporza)
