"You can tell these 2 teams do not like each other" - EF DS sees real tension between UAE & Visma ahead of 2025 Tour de France

At the 2025 Tour de France, the latest chapter in the epic rivalry between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard is set to be written. More broadly however, it continues the rivalry between UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Team Visma | Lease a Bike for the right to be called the best team in the peloton.

"This is a two-man race we're talking about, between the defending champ and the other most recent champ," previews American ex-pro Brent Bookwalter in the latest episode on NBC's Beyond the Podium podcast. "If we look back at the past few years, it's these two guys that have dominated the Tour and it's going to be that way again, barring any sort of disaster, or freak situation, or crash, or sickness."

"Two really deep teams, two proven champions in their own right, but undoubtedly the momentum is with Tadej Pogacar," Bookwalter continues. "This guy has been on fire this year with 11 wins. Nearly unstoppable, and that's a much different picture than the situation that Jonas Vingegaard is arriving at the Tour de France."

Whilst there has always seemed to be a lot of mutual respect between Vingegaard and Pogacar, understandable given everything they have thrown at each other over the years, there has long been rumours of lingering tension between their teams. EF Education - EasyPost sports director Tejay van Garderen is well placed to comment on this, and in conversation with Bookwalter, the American reveals more on the precarious UAE - Visma dynamic.

"What I love the most about it, is you can tell that these two teams do not like each other. Like, there is a serious rivalry going on there," says the former Giro d'Italia stage winner, referencing Vingegaard outsprinting Pogacar in the finale of stage 8 at the Criterium du Dauphiné. "There is no love lost between these two bike riders. Of course there's respect there, but these two guys, they're out for blood."

"Last year, they were tied at 2-2 (in career wins at the Tour de France ed.), and you can see that Tadej Pogacar, when he's winning is he funnest, just happy go lucky and a joy to be around. But that day that Jonas beat him in that sprint (stage 11 of 2024 Tour ed.), and the whole momentum shift to the Visma camp, you saw Pogacar in the cool down and he was like: 'I cannot lose to this dude a third time. I can't lose this tiebreaker'," recalls Van Garderen in conclusion. "UAE and Visma, they're the two dominant teams of this era, and they are fighting for supremacy. And, these are the two best riders of their generation. "