“You have to attack, take risks and try to force the race open” - Alberto Contador urges Jonas Vingegaard to gamble in search of answers to Tadej Pogacar problem
CyclingFriday, 03 July 2026 at 16:00
Alberto Contador made a career out of racing Grand Tours from the front foot. His long-range ambush at Fuente De in the 2012 Vuelta a Espana remains one of the clearest examples of what can happen when control is no longer enough and the race has to be broken open.
Before the 2026 Tour de France, his advice to Jonas Vingegaard comes from familiar ground. Tadej Pogacar starts in Barcelona as favourite for a fifth yellow jersey, but Contador believes the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader still has the profile to make the race uncomfortable for him.
“Although Pogacar has been clearly superior in virtually every race he's entered, his biggest rival is someone who already knows what it takes to win the Tour twice,” Contador told TNT Sports and Eurosport.
“Jonas Vingegaard is an exceptionally professional and meticulous rider. Everything he does is geared towards winning the Tour de France, and that alone gives him a chance," continues the Spanish icon. “I still think Pogacar is the favourite, but Vingegaard is the rider most capable of making life difficult for him.”
Contador: “You have to attack”
Pogacar’s 2026 season has pushed the debate beyond ordinary Tour favouritism. The Slovenian has already dominated across the spring and early summer, and a fifth Tour victory would move him level with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain among the race’s official five-time winners.
Contador is already prepared to go further. “I already consider him the greatest rider in history,” he said. “A fifth Tour would simply strengthen that argument even further.”
For Vingegaard, the first problem is yellow itself. If Pogacar is already leading the race, the roles change. The leader can react; the chaser has to expose himself.
“Wearing the yellow jersey gives you one significant advantage: you can afford to react to what your rivals do,” Contador said. “If you're chasing the race leader, you're the one who has to take the initiative. You have to attack, take risks and try to force the race open. That's a huge psychological difference, and it's one of the reasons why the final week is usually the most fascinating part of the Tour.”
Vingegaard’s Giro d’Italia victory confirms his level before the Tour, but it also sends him into July against a Pogacar who has looked fresher, broader and more dominant across almost every terrain. If the Dane reaches the Alps chasing yellow, waiting for Pogacar to crack may not be enough.
Contador won all three Grand Tours during his own career
Stage 15 marked as first major flashpoint
Contador also identified Stage 15 as a key point in the race. With one of the first major high-mountain tests of the Tour, he sees it as a day where the favourites could begin to draw the real lines of the yellow jersey battle.
“I think Stage 15 will be hugely important,” he said. “It features one of the first truly major high-mountain tests of the race, and I believe that's where one of the favourites could land a decisive blow."
“The rider with the greatest chance is Pogacar. Does that mean he'll definitely win? No. There are always crashes, bad days and many other factors that can change everything," he adds. “But if I had to identify one decisive moment, I'd once again point to Stage 15. I think that's where the script of the race could really begin to take shape in the Alps.”
Behind the two favourites, Contador named Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz, Juan Ayuso and Paul Seixas as riders with genuine podium potential. His note on Seixas was more cautious: at 19, the Frenchman’s first Tour will be judged not only by his best days, but by how he recovers from one week to the next.
Pogacar starts with the status, the season and the fifth-yellow-jersey chase. Vingegaard starts with the Giro in his legs and, in Contador’s view, one route into the race: attack before the Tour settles fully around the man everyone else is trying to beat.
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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- Yes, taking turns with Pogačar was what Horner would call "a knucklehead move". There was no terrain between La Redoute and Roche-en-Faucons for Pogačar to drop Seixas, and Pogačar was always going to attack on the second climb. Plus it's not like the group behind would have caught up
Rafionain-Glas03-07-2026 - Recently, Chris Froome described Pogačar as someone who could dominate the Tour for years to come, while Eddy Merckx backed him to win this year's race and even suggested he could eventually become the first rider to reach six Tour victories. I know that Merckx knows very well that Pogi is already the GOAT, but he will not admit it yet, not until Pogi has six Tours.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales03-07-2026
- Pogi is all class, on and off the bike. There are a lot of guys in the peloton who are both absolute beasts of competitors, but also thoughtful and respectful. Such a great time to be a cycling fan!DAS03-07-2026
- How's that a win for Seixas?Rafionain-Glas03-07-2026
- Would love to see this.anonymouscyclist03-07-2026
- Is he hinting at a repeat of 2018 with Torito winning?Rafionain-Glas03-07-2026
- Oh? How about an outside the box solution that’s win win for all involved. Swap IDT with Seixas with some spare cash to cover his first salaries at Decathlon. UAE get Seixas IDT gets leadership Deca has security Cycling doesn’t deteriorate Money and commissions (I’ll accept symbolic payment) stay low.Jumpyjohn03-07-2026
- if he didn't plan to train anyways, then he didn't really have to stop training for 3 or 4 days . . .mij03-07-2026
- Another crap headline. "In the end the race will tell" totally used out of context. He mentioned something similar, not exact, when talking about his competitors. Not his teammates.mij03-07-2026
- and this is such a disingenuous headline, honestly terribly written. there is no indication that IDT wants to transfer. it is written as if he is in negotiations with someone. of course every team watches every rider's situation. I guess the crap writing worked as I clicked on this and read it to the end.mij03-07-2026
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