"If we were at a level table, there is only two guys going to win this race isn't there? Tadej Pogacar, or Jonas Vingegaard," Liggett analyses on NBC Sports Cycling's Beyond the Podium podcast. "However, that crash at the
Itzulia Basque Country, I think it was the worst crash I've ever seen on television. It took out all the stars of the event, left them limping and hospital bound and one of the worst injuries, was of course, Jonas Vingegaard."
"He's never raced since! The team have been very shaded. But today, I spoke to the team manager, Grischa Niermann," Liggett continues. "I asked him the question point blank. Who decided if he is ready to ride the Tour de France? Apparently, Vingegaard said to Grischa; 'I am ready'."
"Now, he would not say he was ready to ride the Tour if he was 5% below being ready because this guy has always been honest," assesses the commentary icon. "You see him at the finish line, he walks up to his team and says: 'I wasn't so good today' or 'I can feel it coming now.' So I believe, the fact he's going to be on the start line in Florence, he's here to win the Tour again."