Mattias Skjelmose reveals Jonas Vingegaard's stark Pogačar verdict: 'I can't give any more than this'

Mattias Skjelmose has stressed on a Danish podcast that Jonas Vingegaard really was riding at his absolute best during the Tour de France. Speaking on HVa så?!, the Lidl-Trek Dane discussed his compatriot from Visma | Lease a Bike and offered an insight into how Vingegaard himself viewed his performances. Skjelmose also shared comments Vingegaard had made from inside the peloton about the seemingly impossible task of matching Tadej Pogačar.

Vingegaard ultimately did not finish the Tour de France after crashing in Stage 15 and breaking his collarbone. He has since undergone surgery for that injury. During the two weeks before his crash, however, the Visma leader had been performing at the level he expected of himself, something he effectively stressed after each stage he completed. The results might not always have shown it, but according to Vingegaard, he was riding better than ever.

The fact that the Dane was already facing a deficit of 4 minutes and 30 seconds after two weeks of the Tour was, in his view, mainly down to an extraordinary Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates-XRG repeatedly delivered devastating attacks and, in doing so, effectively swung the Tour firmly in his favour relatively early in the race. Visma | Lease a Bike still had plans to try something during the third week, but Pogačar had already established a commanding advantage.

“Jonas has developed enormously as a person. I’ve been fortunate that we’ve often been able to talk to each other during races. We have good conversations,” Skjelmose explained. The Lidl-Trek rider finished sixth in the Tour de France and therefore flew the Danish flag in the general classification after Vingegaard was forced to abandon. Before his crash, the Visma | Lease a Bike leader had been sitting second overall.

Naturally, Pogačar also came up during those conversations, as did the rivalry Vingegaard has been fighting with the world champion since 2021. In 2022 and 2023, Vingegaard came out on top against Pogačar at the Tour de France, but the balance between the two riders has shifted since then. One factor in that change was Vingegaard's serious crash at the 2024 Tour of the Basque Country, which significantly disrupted his preparation and season.

People inevitably pointed to that crash, but Vingegaard told Skjelmose the same thing he had been telling the outside world throughout this Tour. “He said: ‘I’m riding better than ever. I can’t do any more than this. What else am I supposed to change? I’m producing the best performances of my career and he still just rides away from me. I can’t give any more than this.’”

They are realistic words, but also ones that underline just how demoralising the situation can be, especially with Denmark expecting nothing less than Vingegaard at his very best. “I think there is an enormous amount of pressure on him,” Skjelmose said. “He is the only rider who has really been able to compete with Pogačar, and he has come the closest. All the expectations are placed on him, and not only in Denmark.”

Vingegaard's withdrawal suddenly turned Skjelmose into something of a national hero during the third week of the Tour. “From one day to the next, I was the one being cheered on, and to such an extent that my teammates were also thinking: what is going on here? After the French, there were by far more Danes standing along the roadside than any other nationality.”