Visma-Lease a Bike made the first move for Jonas Vingegaard in the inevitable pre-Tour de France mind games.
According to Visma team boss Richard Plugge, Vingegaard is better than ever and primed to beat Tadej Pogačar in July at Le Tour.
“You could say that Pogačar is better on Tour of Flanders-like courses, but this is about a three-week race. And in our view, Jonas is better at handling that accumulation of fatigue,” Plugge told the WielerFlits podcast.
Call it bullish, call it bluffing; it’s some statement from Plugge, who reiterated to Wielerflits that Vingegaard is the better rider “over the entire three weeks.”
Pogačar’s rampage through the past 18 months has been historic. Judging by the recent spring classics, the Slovenian isn’t slowing down, either.
Yet Plugge is confident that Vingegaard is the grand tour king.
That the Dane was able to push Pogačar last year – even after he was left broken in the Basque Country three months prior – said it all.
“Jonas put minutes onto Pogačar at the Tour for two years in a row [2022 and 2023]. Last year, after a very flawed start and a pretty bad finish – physically – Jonas was still a big competitor towards the end,” Plugge said this week.
“And Jonas has also made progress again,” Plugge continued. “I have no reason to believe we can’t go for yellow again.”
Paris-Nice setback no problem for Vingegaard
Vingegaard hasn’t been seen racing since he exited Paris-Nice in March with a concussion.
A planned ride at the Volta a Catalunya was cut from the calendar while the 28-year-old recovered at home.
Vingegaard’s long-time trainer Tim Heemskerk recently told Velo that his athlete’s unscheduled layoff was actually a benefit. Plugges’s promise of “progress” wasn’t without foundation.
“In a few weeks, he’ll be ahead of schedule compared to previous years,” Heemskerk told Velo. “He missed out on racing, but he’s got a head start on training and bodyweight before he goes to altitude.
“With a good training week this week and the upcoming period before we go to Sierra, we are making a head start on our rivals,” Heemskerk said last month.
Jonas Vingegaard and Visma boys are enjoying the training camp before Tour de France.
: nvhooydonck, tiesj, ellisech pic.twitter.com/yEOmTFSCHs
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) May 16, 2025
Vingegaard and the core of his “Tour Eight” have been camped high on Sierra Nevada for several weeks.
Half the WorldTour is there, including Pogačar and Tour de France third-wheel Remco Evenepoel.
Recent fan footage gave the world a peep behind the high-altitude curtain with videos of Pogačar blasting over the Sierra’s high-altitude climbs. Mysterious team insider “Mou” claims UAE Emirates-XRG has refined its altitude framework to the nth degree.
‘Compared to last year, we have made a big step forward’
That’s no problem for Plugge, who raised the stakes beyond Vingegaard and Pogačar.
Plugge told Wielerflits that his “Killer Bees” have the upper hand over UAE Emirates-XRG in the roiling superteam battle at the top of the WorldTour.
“Due to circumstances, Jonas was simply less in the final week last year. And I do think that UAE Emirates-XRG has made progress after the Combloux time trial in the 2023 Tour de France, but so have we,” Plugge said, referring to the day when Vingegaard whalloped Pogačar in a decisive stage deep in the Alps.
Plugge sketched out details of V-LAB’s recent steps forward with nutrition and AI – an area where UAE Emirates-XRG can claim first-mover status – as proof.
“We are mainly looking at ourselves and how we can improve our performance,” he said. “Compared to last year, we have made another big step in that regard.”
Vingegaard, Pogačar, Evenepoel to test Tour de France legs at the Dauphiné
Vingegaard, Pogačar, and Evenepoel will roll out their full Tour de France artilleries next month in a high-stakes grand tour primer at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Heemskerk hinted to Velo last month that he’s not planning for Vingegaard to be in 100 percent shape at the eight-day race.
A finishing camp in Tignes in late June will paint the finishing touches.
But you can bet there will be a few more plays in the Tour de France mind games before then.
Criterium du Dauphine (8/6-15/6) announced ridiculous list of ♂️s
Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Mas, Jorgenson, Kuss, Skjelmose, Carlos Rod, Lipowitz, Buitrago, L.Martinez, Dunbar, Sheffield
(at least capacity)Milan
Healy
Seixas, Toms
Bardet#Dauphine pic.twitter.com/krfOFCYlzl— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) May 28, 2025