"We were optimistic all winter that we could offer a better race" - Zeeman looks back at Jonas Vingegaard's first battle with Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
Mixed reactions emerged from the Jumbo-Visma camp after this Paris-Nice, as Tadej Pogacar put on a performance that could not be matched by anyone, including main rival Jonas Vingegaard.
“Jonas has never won a week-long WorldTour race. That was a goal after winning the Tour. We were optimistic all winter that we could offer a better race," team DS Merijn Zeeman told Langs de Lijn. "But after the altitude training in Tenerife, he had some private matters, which threw him backwards and he wasn't at his very best last week."
The run-up to the French race wasn't ideal for the Dane, however at Gran Camino - despite the modest field - he won all three stages and showed he had good form. It was expected that the two would have a tight battle in the 'Race to the Sun' but what ended up happening was that Vingegaard did not have a gear to keep up with the Slovenian, who has not yet been training at altitude.
Although in the queen stage to the Col de la Couillole it was more balanced, on La Loge des Gardes and the Col 'Èze - more explosive climbs - Pogacar was on a much superior level. It was a comfortable and dominant GC win which also saw stage wins in all three mountain stages. Throughout the whole week the team and Vingegaard pointed out the main goal was the Tour de France, but the psychological strike was successful from UAE Team Emirates.
On the other hand, the team received great news from Tirreno-Adriatico as Primoz Roglic returned to racing and also won all three mountainous and hilly stages, before sealing the overall classification win. It was an unexpected turn of events as Roglic was not even initially set out to race in Italy.
"He's just a very special athlete who, besides being very strong, also knows very well what he can and cannot do," Zeeman commented. "The fact that he won three stages and the general classification was a huge surprise for us. But a very pleasant one."
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Heading towards the cobbled classics the team has a massively strong block, however the focus here was on the Grand Tours. “The Giro is also a very special race for us. We have now won both the Tour and the Vuelta, but we have never won the Giro. So that is a very important goal. For Primoz too, by the way, because the last time trial ends very close to Slovenia," he shares.
Whilst Vingegaard will take on a leading role at the Grand Boucle Roglic will be one of the main favourites for the Giro, where he's expected to battle Remco Evenepoel. "They expect the whole country to turn out. And later comes the Tour that Jonas will focus on later. And a few more, such as Wout van Aert. But normally Roglic doesn't ride a Tour," he concluded.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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