24/07/2023

"You've got a little way to go before you start comparing him to the likes of Eddy Merckx" - Robbie McEwen cools talk of Vingegaard being of the all-time greats

Successfully defending his Tour de France title over the weekend, Jonas Vingegaard joined an elite group of riders to have taken back-to-back Maillot Jaune's. Although undoubtedly the best Grand Tour rider in the peloton, Robbie McEwen believes it's a bit too soon to compare Vingegaard with legendary riders of the past.

"There's not a lot of riders that do it back-to-back, I mean there are other riders who have won two Tours," said the Australian, former sprint ace on Eurosport. "You've got a little way to go before you start comparing him to the likes of Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Chris Froome… If he can keep this up, he doesn't look like stopping anytime soon. We saw the beginning of the Vingegaard era last year with his win. He had a few moments where we thought maybe Pogacar was getting the better of him but he bounced back every single time. When it came to the crunch, the really big moments, he shone."

Jumbo-Visma CEO Richard Plugge confirms Jonas Vingegaard's start at La Vuelta: "Normally he goes to Spain, with Primoz Roglic"

For three straight years, Vingegaard has battled it out with Tadej Pogacar for the overall victory at the Tour de France. With the score currently 2-1 in the Jumbo-Visma leader's favour, the Eurosport crew also debated whether or not this rivalry will continue to dominate the race in the coming years.

"There's always someone new coming up," warns Adam Blythe. "Jonas is a Tour de France rider. I'm not going to say it's the only race he's good at, but he has one target through the year. Every little bit of detail throughout the year will be towards the Tour de France. You look at Tadej Pogacar, he's like jack of all trades – attacking on the Champs-Elysees, wanting to win Flanders, Liege, Amstel…"

Jose de Cauwer believes Pogacar & Vingegaard's yearly Tour de France battle may soon have a third wheel: "You have to add Evenepoel to that"

"If you go through that process and get into the third week, the hardest week of the Tour de France where everyone starts to break, it's always where Jonas steps up and comes to his strongest," Blythe concludes. "For UAE and Pogacar, taking the Classics away from him next year would be the hardest thing."