Tour de France expectations fired up in Denmark after Vingegaard's Giro win: ‘On Pogačar’s level’

Jonas Vingegaard dominated the Giro d’Italia, with five stage wins and a huge gap over his rivals. The Dane of Visma | Lease a Bike took the pink jersey, but also got in a superb training block for his main goal: the Tour de France. Can he put Tadej Pogačar under real pressure? Danish analysts think so.

Vingegaard took part in the Giro for the first time and hoped to complete his Grand Tour set. He had already won the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, but not the Giro d’Italia. On his debut, he did exactly that — and by a wide margin. But that was not the only reason the Visma | Lease a Bike leader wanted to be at the start.

From his experience, racing one Grand Tour is the best preparation for another. By riding the Giro, he hopes to arrive in top shape at the Tour. Bjarne Riis saw an extremely strong, but also fresh Vingegaard during the Giro. And that is crucial. “Believe me, there is a huge difference between resting with ‘golden legs’ and having a break when you are already a bit broken,” he told Feltet.

“Now he can go home calmly to recover, and then he is well on his way to focusing fully on the Tour.” Rivals choose a different, more traditional approach towards La Grande Boucle, but with his method Vingegaard will hopefully have an edge. “That is a huge advantage for him. When it comes to the Tour, he will not arrive over-tired.”

Will it be enough to attack Tadej Pogačar when it matters? We will only know in July, when the Tour de France starts in Barcelona. In the last two editions Vingegaard finished second, at a respectable distance behind the Slovenian juggernaut. But in 2022 and 2023, the Dane had the upper hand over the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader.