Sean Kelly confident Jonas Vingegaard will "put Tadej Pogacar under more pressure" at 2025 Tour de France but admits: "It'd be hard to bet against Pogacar"
CyclingSaturday, 03 May 2025 at 09:44
Tadej Pogacar has been typically impressive this Spring, winning a pair of Monuments among 7 total victories added to his palmares already in 2025. By comparison the world champion's storied Tour de France rival Jonas Vingegaard, has been relatively quiet, racing just the Volta ao Algarve and part of Paris-Nice before abandoning.
"It's crazy to say it, but if Pogacar stopped racing this year right now, his season would already be a huge success," analyses the Irish cycling icon Sean Kelly in his latest column for Cycling News, having like many others, been left incredibly impressed by the Slovenian. "If you look back at Strade and then the way he's been up there in so many different types of races since then, all the way from San Remo and Flanders, across to Paris-Roubaix to Flèche and Liège, you can't find a place where the rivals can put him in difficulty. There isn't one."
"I look back at when I was doing in Liège and my God, how much I had to suffer to stay with the other guys on the climbs. But if I got over them, I knew when we finished down in Liège I could do something in the sprint," continues Kelly. "Pogacar, though, just rode away on La Redoute, although if he had actually opted to fight it out in a sprint against the other podium finishers, Ben Healy and Giulio Ciccone - the odds are he'd have beaten them there too."
Because of this strong form, not many are giving Vingegaard much hope of stopping the all-conquering Pogacar and reclaiming the Maillot Jaune at the 2025 Tour de France later this summer. Kelly though, doesn't think it will be quite so simple for the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader, albeit the Irishman still sees Pogacar as the pre-race favourite.
"Rather than stopping after Liege-Bastogne-Liege, now he will continue on towards the summer, and while it's fair to say he's put in a huge effort in the Classics, I don't think it'll affect him for the Tour at all," assesses the former Vuelta a Espana winner. "It's good that Jonas Vingegaard will be back for July and I'm confident that he'll put Pogacar under more pressure than last year."
It's also not just a two-horse race either, with Kelly hopeful that the Olympic champion will also get involved in the fight. "Remco Evenepoel will hopefully step up too. But if I was a betting man, it'd be hard to bet against Pogacar now for the Tour de France as well," concludes the 68-year-old, finishing with some more praise for the world champ. "I have no doubt he'll already be thinking about next year and what to do right next time round in Paris-Roubaix in 2026. But even without winning Roubaix, everything Tadej Pogacar has done since Strade this Spring - it's just mindboggling. There's no two ways about that."
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What's more pressure than trying to beat MVDP in a one-day sprinter's classic? It's like trying to win a grand tour stage in a bunch sprint.. They both put each other in the pressure cooker, but JV needs to win, in my opinion, more than TP. Throw in Primoz and Remco in the climber's mix, and its going to be an exciting TDF.
I'd love to believe in TP but I can't help somethings in the bottles and it's not Ribens or Water... 🤔
Why would you expect cycling to be different than any other sport? World Tour riders pass tests in and out of competition, so the playing field is as level as can be found in any high level competition.
You're saying you'd rather believe LA than TP? Both great competitors but 2 different personalities altogether..
you’re everything wrong about our world
I can't believe how naive some people are. You must be new to this sport. The history of doping is so entrenched in this sport. It's a very real thing and it didn't stop with Lance. You're absolutely crazy if you think this sport is "clean"
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I agree mate. I've watched this sport for over 40 years and something is going on within Team UAE and its not above board. Yes they test but when has testing ever caught these massive doping programs so to say "he tests clean" is a farce. We know the testing system is a joke. The bio passport was introduced to help catch doping jut it had the opposite effect. It HELPS these dopers stay within the limits. We will probably never get "proof" about Pogi and UAE as a whole but it's clear something is going on. The entire peleton has access to the same nutrition, technology, science etc etc but when you see pogi I. THE SADDLE going up a 24% gradient, nose breathing, like he was shot from a rocket while all the other top level riders are struggling to even stop from tipping over, there's something not right. All we can hope for is for someone to come forward after their career has come to an end that was at UAE during this time. I believe we are seeing a new substance within the sport. It could very well be a proprietary cocktail made just for UAE that isn't on the market and will never be on the market so it will remain undetectable. It has happened in sport before. Look at THG made by BALCO used by baseball players. That was a proprietary cocktail that never hit the market. With all the UNLIMITED money UAE has I believe they have their own scientists making them a "special brew" that we MAY NEVER see or know about but the best chance we have of this coming out is a disgruntled ex staff member or ex rider from UAE and it may not come out for 10 or 15 years but I believe we WILL find out in years to come
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