“Tadej Pogacar is the best ever. But I’ve already beaten him and I can do it again” – Jonas Vingegaard sees Giro d’Italia as key to Tour de France revenge mission

Jonas Vingegaard has made no attempt to downplay either the scale of Tadej Pogacar’s achievements or the challenge waiting for him later this summer at the Tour de France.

But ahead of his Giro d’Italia debut, the Dane also delivered a reminder that no rider in modern cycling has consistently troubled Pogacar across three weeks quite like he has.

“Tadej, perhaps, is the best ever,” Vingegaard told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “But I’ve already beaten him and I trust that I can do it again.”

It is a statement that lands differently in 2026 than it might have twelve months ago. Pogacar remains the reigning Tour de France champion and continues to dominate huge sections of the sport, but Vingegaard arrives at the Giro believing this new challenge could help drive him back towards his own highest level.

For years, Vingegaard’s build-up to the season followed a familiar pattern centred around the Tour de France. In 2026, he deliberately changed that approach.

“For several years my racing programme was very similar. I felt the need to change,” he explained. “The Giro is a big objective and I’m convinced that through these weeks I will also arrive at the Tour in top shape. But right now, my focus is only on the pink jersey.”

That shift helps explain both his approach to the Giro and the intensity with which Team Visma | Lease a Bike are attacking the race. This is not a reduced schedule or a preparation block disguised as a Grand Tour appearance. Vingegaard has openly framed the Giro as both a genuine target and part of a wider attempt to reclaim the Maillot Jaune later this summer.

If successful in Rome, he would become just the eighth rider in history to complete the Grand Tour set, adding the Giro to his two Tour de France victories and Vuelta a Espana title. “Achieving this triple crown is a goal for me… and that’s it,” Vingegaard said. “It means making a piece of history.”

The relationship between Vingegaard and Pogacar has defined modern Grand Tour racing. Across the last five Tours de France, the pair have finished first and second every year, with Pogacar winning in 2021, 2024 and 2025, while Vingegaard claimed back-to-back victories in 2022 and 2023.

Pogacar’s recent dominance has only strengthened the perception that the Slovenian now sits alone at the top of the sport, something Vingegaard himself did not dismiss. Yet his comments also carried a quiet confidence built on experience rather than bravado. Vingegaard remains the only rider of this generation to repeatedly defeat Pogacar across a full Tour de France.

For the Dane, that belief is strengthened by the feeling that he is finally moving beyond the lingering effects of his major crash at Itzulia Basque Country two years ago.

Asked whether he now feels back to his best physically, Vingegaard admitted the recovery process had been far longer than many realised. “Yes, it wasn’t easy to come back after something that made me fear the worst and even fear that I might never get back on a bike,” he said. “It took time. Two years, yes.”

The emotional side of that recovery also emerged clearly during the interview. “If you ask me where I found motivation, it was in the pleasure I feel doing this sport,” explains the Dane. “This is a phase where I have seriously started looking forward again with great confidence, with hope that I can become even better.”

That may be the most significant part of all for the months ahead. The Giro is not simply another race on Vingegaard’s calendar. It is the race he believes has reignited him.

Before thoughts turn fully to July, however, Vingegaard’s attention remains fixed on Italy and what he expects to be a dangerous and unpredictable Giro route. “I consider it more unpredictable,” he said when comparing the Giro to the Tour and Vuelta. “You have to be ready every day because the surprises, more than elsewhere, can be anywhere.”

The Dane highlighted the opening stages in Bulgaria and key mountain tests such as Blockhaus, Corno alle Scale and the Dolomite stages as moments capable of creating major time gaps. “In Bulgaria we’ll have to pay attention to the wind,” he explained. “On certain occasions, there can be very big time gaps.”

Those comments come against the backdrop of a Giro field that has been steadily weakened in the days leading into the start. Joao Almeida, widely viewed as one of Vingegaard’s biggest expected challengers, has already withdrawn through illness. Mikel Landa was ruled out after his crash at Itzulia Basque Country, while former Maglia Rosa winner Richard Carapaz has also confirmed his absence following a delayed recovery from surgery.

That sequence of withdrawals has only strengthened the perception that Vingegaard is arriving at the Giro as the overwhelming favourite for the Maglia Rosa. But the Dane himself pushed back against the idea that the race lacks dangerous rivals. “There are many,” he said when asked about his biggest challengers. “Adam Yates, Pellizzari, Bernal, O’Connor, Gall. I will need my best version to win.”

The Giro may now look more open around Vingegaard than originally expected, but from his perspective, the race still demands complete focus before thoughts can fully turn towards another showdown with Pogacar in July.