Vingegaard racks up runner-up finishes in the Dauphiné and knows what's still missing: "We had anticipated that"

Vingegaard ended up just under a minute behind the world champion in that GC. "Tadej rode really strong throughout," Vingegaard said honestly to the press after the race. "But to be honest, we're focusing on ourselves. If I had seen any weakness in him, I wouldn't have said anything."

This immediately shows that Vingegaard is on a mission: to win the Tour de France. He already succeeded in 2022 and 2023, but last year Pogacar was once again the better rider in the world's biggest race. "Being the defending champion puts more pressure on you,” said Vingegaard. “But that also depends on your preparation."

The Danish climber knows that most pressure is on the defending champion. "Of course, he has more pressure. But he can handle it so that it won't matter much. We've both dealt with it well in recent years."

Text continues below.

In the final stage, Vingegaard tried to attack Pogacar, but the two rode together to the finish line, where Vingegaard finished second and Pogacar third. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) won the final stage solo. Sports director Grischa Niermann looks back on the team website, satisfied with his team's performance. "I saw a strong Team Visma | Lease a Bike this week. Jonas was consistently the best behind Pogacar and finished second overall. Matteo also did well, ending up sixth. On top of that, we win the team classification. Unfortunately, that’s as much as we could achieve."

"Of course, we would have liked to win the Dauphiné," Niermann says. "But I’m happy with where we stand as a team at this moment. There’s still some work to be done, but we had anticipated that.” Vingegaard adds: “I have three more weeks to improve ahead of the Tour de France. Then we’ll see where we stand. We're fully focused on ourselves. I’m really looking forward to the Grand Départ in Lille.“

What exactly does Vingegaard need to improve? He answered that question in front of the cameras after the stage. "A little bit of everything. Especially acceleration on the longer climbs. I hope to take another step forward in the coming weeks."