Can Jonas Vingegaard pose a threat to the all-dominating Tadej Pogacar again in the coming years? A former professional cyclist says: No. He sees the Dane’s time as up.
Evaluating Jonas Vingegaard’s season is no easy task. On the one hand, the Dane won the Vuelta and came second in the Tour de France. On the other hand, the feeling also solidified that he simply cannot hold a candle to Tadej Pogacar and that the Slovenian is uncatchable.
The former French professional cyclist Nicolas Fritsch painted a bleak picture of Vingegaard’s sporting future in the “Bistrot Vélo” podcast.
Vingegaard “is no longer improving”
“I hate to write drivers off, but for me Vingegaard is now clearly behind Pogacar. He has reached his peak – it is an extraordinary level and he is the second best rider in the world. But he is no longer improving, while Pogacar is still doing this,” Fritsch is convinced that the performance gap between the two exceptional athletes will widen even further in the future.
Vingegaard reached his absolute peak at the Tour de Frane 2023, Fritsch continued. “Since then he has had this serious accident and has come back from far behind.” But he no longer sees that the Dane will reach the level of two years ago again.
Vingegaard can only win if Pogacar is not there
“Maybe he can still win a big tour if Pogacar isn’t there – but only then,” Fritsch sees the Slovenian as unbeatable for the Visma captain.
If the former professional has his way, Vingegaard should aim to win each of the three major tours at least once during his career. “If I were him, I would target the Giro. Maybe that would look like he wants to avoid Pogacar, but strategically that makes sense,” said Fritsch.