"You have to ride better than the year before" - Alberto Contador's wise advice to Jonas Vingegaard on how to beat Tadej Pogacar again at Tour de France

The Tour de France 2024 ended Jonas Vingegaard's domination of cycling's premier race after two consecutive years of victory. The Dane was defeated by arch rival Tadej Pogacar, who won his third Maillot Jaune in the process.

However, it must be taken into account that the Dane was not in his best form following injury, and that the story could potentially have been different if the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader had not been left in intensive care after a crash at the Itzulia Basque Country just months prior. In fact, in an interview recently granted to AS, former Tour de France champion Alberto Contador considers that Vingegaard can be proclaimed winner again in 2025, but bearing in mind one thing.

"The performance you have one year to win the Tour is very likely that the following year it won't be enough to win it," Contador says emphatically. "Maybe it happens that the rivals fail, but if not, the law of life says that to win the Tour de France you have to ride better than the year before."

The most dominant version of Jonas Vingegaard seen in the Tour de France was probably in 2023, but to race at that level again, according to Contador himself, is not going to be enough to beat Tadej Pogacar: "It's a law of life, it's always been like that. The numbers and the performance you have one year to win the Tour is very likely that the next year it won't be enough to win it. If you go at 400 watts, you'd better get to 420," Contador comments.