"The fact he's going to be on the start line in Florence, he's here to win the Tour again" - 'Voice of the Tour de France' Phil Liggett backing Jonas Vingegaard
Cycling
In what shape will Jonas Vingegaard be in at the 2024 Tour de France? On the eve of the Grand Tour the question remains unanswered and is on the mind of almost all cycling fans. One man who believes he knows the answer however, is 'the Voice of the Tour de France', Phil Liggett.
A true icon of sports commentary, the now 80-year-old Liggett is preparing to cover the 52nd Tour de France of his career. Given his vast experience, Liggett has understandably seen and commentated on a lot of the sport's most iconic moments and stories over the years. From Stephen Roche emerging through the fog, Laurent Fignon getting his heart broken by Greg LeMond on the Champs Elysees and even the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong, Liggett has seen it all. Ahead of the 2024 edition of the Tour de France, he believes Jonas Vingegaard more than stands a chance.
"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."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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After speaking with the Visma team, Phil Liggett believes Jonas Vingegaard is coming to the Tour de France ready to contend for the win. #TDF2024
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