“Visma could have sent Jonas to the moon... the result would be the same” – Michael Rasmussen dismisses Vingegaard’s chances of beating Tadej Pogacar again
CyclingWednesday, 05 August 2026 at 12:15
Michael Rasmussen sees no obvious route for Jonas Vingegaard back past Tadej Pogacar, dismissing the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader’s explanation for his lack of explosiveness at the Tour de France as a “poor excuse”.
Vingegaard has suggested his Giro d’Italia preparation left him better equipped for long, sustained climbs than the shorter accelerations that repeatedly shaped the Tour. With only five weeks between the two Grand Tours, there was little opportunity to overhaul the physical qualities developed for Italy.
That explanation has failed to convince Rasmussen. The former Tour contender believes a full month was enough for Visma to reintroduce sharper efforts and has also rejected the suggestion that Vingegaard carried major fatigue out of the Giro.
More damagingly, Rasmussen doubts any alteration would have changed the result. Pogacar had already opened a four-and-a-half-minute advantage before Vingegaard crashed out on stage 15, extending a run that has seen the Slovenian seize firm control of a rivalry once split almost evenly between them.
“It sounds like a poor excuse”
“It sounds like a poor excuse,” Rasmussen told Viaplay. “They had the entire month between the Giro and the Tour to make him more explosive.”
Vingegaard dominated the Giro on his debut, winning five stages and completing his collection of all three Grand Tours. He finished more than five minutes clear of Felix Gall and rarely appeared under sustained pressure during the final week. “He did not come out of the Giro tired, considering how convincingly he won it,” Rasmussen added.
The Tour exposed a weakness that had been far less damaging in Italy. Pogacar repeatedly gained ground with abrupt changes of pace, while Vingegaard struggled to produce the acceleration that had helped him contain similar attacks during their earlier battles.
The first gaps came before the race reached its decisive mountain stages. Pogacar then took 2:42 from Vingegaard on the Tourmalet and added further time before the Dane’s fractured collarbone brought his challenge to an end.
Vingegaard had previously finished inside the top two on each of his first five Tour appearances, beating Pogacar in 2022 and 2023 before losing the next two editions. His 2026 abandon ended that sequence and left Pogacar heading towards a fifth yellow jersey.
Rasmussen sees no training fix for Pogacar gap
Visma now face a broader decision than whether to restore more explosive work to Vingegaard’s Tour preparation. Their leader has not defeated Pogacar at the race since 2023, while the margin between them has grown across the Slovenian’s latest run of victories.
Rasmussen believes the outcome in July was beyond the reach of any training adjustment. “Visma could have sent Jonas to the moon,” he said. “The result would still have been the same: defeat to Tadej Pogacar.”
Vingegaard’s two Tour victories remain proof that Pogacar is not unbeatable. Visma broke him through repeated attacks on the Col du Granon in 2022, before Vingegaard delivered the best Tour performance of his career in the 2023 time trial and on the Col de la Loze.
The balance has shifted sharply since then. Pogacar returned to the Tour in 2024 with a stronger team and a higher climbing level, successfully defended yellow in 2025 and had already established another commanding lead before Vingegaard’s 2026 crash.
Vingegaard must first recover from surgery before any decision is made over his remaining season. His next Tour preparation should offer considerably more time than the compressed turnaround after the Giro, but Rasmussen sees Pogacar himself, rather than Visma’s training choices, as the obstacle that may prove impossible to solve.
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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