Vingegaard "still missing that little something to compete with Pogacar" - Marc Madiot

The Tour de France is right around the corner and at this point in time, little else will be in the mind of the World Tour peloton. Marc Madiot, manager of Groupama - FDJ, has shared his thoughts regarding Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard after the Criterium du Dauphiné.

"We can see that Pogacar is at his best, especially in the mountains. There may still be a few details to adjust regarding the time trial, but overall, he's been very strong since the start of the season," Madiot said in words to Cyclism'Actu.

The two went head-to-head for the first time since last year's Tour, but in the high mountains we've seen the same kind of domination from Pogacar that he's achieved in any race with long climbs over the past 12 months.

"Vingegaard seemed to be in good shape, but he's still missing that little something to compete with Pogacar across the board. There's clearly a gap between the two of them and the rest, even though Evenepoel is also at an excellent level. Last year's hierarchy seems to be confirmed".

We could end up having a very similar Tour to last year's when it comes to the overall classification, taking into consideration that all three main contenders to the yellow jersey showed their expected level in France two weeks ago and seem to be in very similar paths preparation-wise - this time around, with no injuries or illnesses in the immediately past.

"I haven't seen the odds, but based on what we've observed, you don't need to be a great expert to say that Pogacar is the number one favorite," Madiot confidently states. "But you always have to be wary".

"The Tour is three weeks with many pitfalls: the mountains, the time trials, the tricky stages, the wind, managing the peloton... There are many parameters that we try to control, but that we never master 100%. There are always the vagaries of the race. So everything remains open, even if on paper, Pogacar ticks more boxes than the others".