Vingegaard doing what Froome once did? Heijboer explains how realistic the overall victory in La Vuelta is

Over the past few years, Jumbo-Visma has proven that if they have something in mind, they often succeed in realizing it. It's no coincidence that Primoz Roglic won the Vuelta in 2020 and 2021 after having already ridden the Tour. And it's no coincidence that Vingegaard won the Tour in 2022 and 2023 following a carefully crafted plan and corresponding training program. Wout van Aert is almost always there when he needs to be, as are all the other riders in yellow and black. Take Steven Kruijswijk, for example, who finished fifth in the Tour in 2018 and then fourth in the Vuelta. On that front, there is no reason to doubt: if Jumbo-Visma thinks they can do it, you can be sure they probably can.

Yet, the Dutch team is still keeping their options open. "It's realistic that he will achieve the same level in the Vuelta, but there's a greater risk factor," said performance coach Mathieu Heijboer earlier this month. "We believe in targeted preparation. If the preparation goes well, we also dare say that our riders will be at their peak performance level. For the Vuelta, this is a bit more uncertain, as the preparation time for this tour is simply shorter."

A week after his Tour victory, Vingegaard was back on the bike, and because there's a week longer gap between the end of the Tour and the start of the Vuelta this year—due to the Super World Championships in Glasgow—the Dane essentially had all the time he needed to prepare wproperly. The big question is: how deep did Vingegaard go in the Tour de France? His lead in Paris was more than seven minutes over second-place Tadej Pogacar, but it took three weeks of all-out racing to achieve that. "The Vuelta was always penciled in his annual planning, but we haven't said much publicly about it, because as far as we're concerned, the focus had to go to the Tour and we also wanted to reserve the right that if he came out of the Tour battered and broken, he wouldn't do the Vuelta. This year he came out of the Tour pretty well, and it was clear pretty quickly he wanted to do the Vuelta as well," says Heijboer about it.

"We first let him rest well after the Tour. He had a lot of celebrations and festivities in the first week, both with the team and in Denmark and with sponsors. Those were pretty busy days for him, but when everything settled down, he rested well and quickly resumed training," it continues. "Then we worked on basic endurance training, with obviously some intervals as well. This is mainly about maintaining because you can't build from scratch in such a short time. We trained the basic endurance again, and in this way, we try to enter the Vuelta with the form from the Tour."

In this, they didn't account for the Tour of Spain the whole year. The Tour was the main goal and in service of that, for example, the Walloon classics were scrapped from the spring schedule. The green light for the Vuelta only came when Vingegaard's legs responded well. "Overall, he has always felt quite good. There were some lesser days, but he felt especially very good during all the important training sessions. That's a good sign."

Anyone looking at the Vuelta route will see opportunities for classification riders throughout the three weeks. This means you have to start well, but more importantly finish well. "Whoever wants to win the Vuelta will have to show an extremely high level of preparation. Of course, the final stages are also very difficult, but a lot happens before that," said teammate and co-leader Roglic, who has been preparing for this race for months, unlike Vingegaard.

Advantage: Vingegaard has been described for years as a man with a big engine, perhaps the biggest of all. When it gets tough for the rest, Vingegaard's legs are just getting started. In this regard, Heijboer hopes that his team leader can surprise the team. "I can't give a 100% guarantee because he has never done this before, but we're going for the win with the team."

The red jersey in Madrid could also end up on Roglic's shoulders, it is emphasized. "In the perception of the public, anything less than a win will not be good enough for Jonas. I hope it works out, and I don't think we could have done much different or better than we have. But performing at the top level twice for three weeks is not easy."

The last person to successfully complete the Tour-Vuelta double was none other than Chris Froome, then in the black jersey of Team Sky. After winning the Tour for the fourth (and last) time in the summer, he went on to the Vuelta, which began just over three weeks later that year. With some supercompensation, Froome took the red jersey in the first week and only expanded his lead in the weeks that followed. There were some lesser moments, but just as often he striked back. His lead over second place Vincenzo Nibali was 2 minutes and 15 seconds in Madrid. The fact that he tested positive for excessive salbutamol levels in the third week was ultimately not held against him by the UCI and WADA.

Of course, the Tour-Vuelta combination is also popular, much more than the Giro-Tour double. Especially the Spaniards often do exceptionally well on their home soil. Alejandro Valverde finished in the top ten in both grand tours five times in one season during his impressive career. Often his Vuelta result was better than in the Tour. The same applies to Enric Mas, who rode in the top ten in the Tour in 2020 and 2021, and then did the same in the Vuelta. Joaquim Rodriguez and Nairo Quintana have also done it, although none of these riders came close to winning both. Froome is the only one who has done so this century. Bernard Hinault was the last to achieve this feat before Froome in 1978.

Winning both the Tour and the Vuelta, Heijboer knows what he's asking of Vingegaard. "The most important thing for us is that we win as a team. If Jonas finishes second or third, he has also delivered a top performance. But if Jonas wins, it would be a fairly unique achievement. The statistics prove that; only one rider has managed to do it this century. We have to be honest that he is a bit behind in terms of preparation compared to, for example, Evenepoel, Ayuso, or Roglic, because they have fully focused on the Vuelta. They have had this race in mind all summer. Therefore, I wouldn't say this will be a lucky shot, but there is a much larger element of uncertainty as to whether he can repeat that performance."