"Vingegaard always transforms at Tour" - Vincenzo Nibali optimistic about the Dane's chances to win Tour de France

Tadej Pogacar is the main favourite to triumph at the Tour de France according to, well, pretty much anyone you ask. The one rider that can upset the World champion is Jonas Vingegaard, winner of the 2022 and 2023 editions.

Vincenzo Nibali, winner from 2014, would know a thing or two about upsetting odds as his triumph eleven years ago was quite special. Looking at the two overwhelming favourites, he still rates the Slovenian extremely high, but the same applies to his Danish counterpart.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, Pogacar gets a 10. But when it comes to the Tour specifically, Vingegaard gets a 9. So he's not that far off," the former Tour champion points out in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

While Pogacar is usually seen winning here, there and everywhere throughout the year, Vingegaard is a bit more economical with his efforts, focusing primarily on stage racing. But Nibali knows that the Visma | Lease a Bike always blooms at the Tour de France. "Vingegaard can transform himself in the Tour. He has it as the center of everything, and he always shows his best," he highlights.

The parcours in 2025 are also certainly going to play in Vingegaard's favour. Without any big mountains that would provoke Pogacar to some big action in the first week, Vingegaard can gradually get into a racing rhythm before riders head south for some real climbing.

Nibali is confident that the Dane will thrive there: "In addition, there is a factor that is hardly mentioned. It is the difficulty of the route: 50,000 meters of altitude and five mountain finishes. All of that will certainly not make Vingegaard upset," is his assessment.

And that Jonas Vingegaard came to Tour prepared is evident from the get-go when alongside Pogacar (and Enric Mas) the two men already gained 39 seconds on all of their opponents on a day that was supposed to be a simple sprint stage. If this is the way the next three weeks will look like, we're up for a great race!