Jonas Vingegaard didn’t do much differently during the Tour de France than in his final victories in 2022 and 2023. But this time, Tadej Pogacar was far too strong. The Slovenian changed everything last year and now seems unbeatable. An analysis.
In the last mountain stage of the 112th Tour de France, Visma-Lease a Bike gives up. On the way to the Alpine village of La Plagne, the Dutch team and leader Vingegaard, for the first time, completely leave the initiative to yellow jersey wearer Pogacar.
In the previous eighteen stages, Visma seized every opportunity to fatigue Pogacar as much as possible. That started in stage one with a collective acceleration in the Northern French wind and continued with one attack after another on hills and mountains.
Visma-Lease a Bike always has a plan. The tactics for the Tour are thought out at headquarters in Den Bosch for months, down to the smallest details.
The strategy has revolved around one question for years: how can we beat Pogacar? In 2022 and 2023, they succeeded. Pogacar was already the best cyclist in the world then, but Visma managed to wear the Slovenian down enough. Vingegaard was therefore able to celebrate the overall victory twice in Paris.
But now, in the nineteenth stage to La Plagne, Visma-Lease a Bike sends a crystal-clear message by hoisting the white flag: our tactics no longer work against this Pogacar.
Tour full of climbs with bad memories
Pogacar rarely seems to worry. But the world champion was a little shocked last October when he saw the stage schedule of the Tour. “I almost dare to say that this year’s course is made to scare me,” he said on the second rest day of the Tour.
Hautacam, Mont Ventoux, Col de la Loze: all Tour climbs where Pogacar had taken significant hits from Vingegaard in the past. Vingegaard decided the 2022 Tour on the Hautacam. A year later, Pogacar experienced his worst day on a bicycle on the Col de la Loze.
That slump in the Alps set off a series of crucial changes. The greatest cycling talent (Pogacar) and the richest cycling team (UAE Team Emirates) had been defeated two years in a row by a team (Visma-Lease a Bike) that had taken a big lead with fewer resources in the areas of training, tactics, nutrition, and equipment. That couldn’t continue.
Pogacar changed trainers after 2023
The most important change was that Pogacar parted ways with his trainer Iñigo San Millán at the end of 2023 after five years and switched to Javier Sola. “After such a long period with Iñigo, I did a little too much of the same training,” Pogacar said at the end of last year. “It was time for something new.”
Sola made significant changes to the leader’s training program. Pogacar started doing more high-intensity training rides, with the goal of being able to handle the longest Tour climbs better. In addition, he spent more time on his time trial bike. Not coincidentally, Sola addressed two components in which Vingegaard was stronger in 2022 and 2023.
In the area of nutrition – perhaps Pogacar’s weakest spot – UAE also quickly made steps. “When our nutritionist joined the team in 2020, it was very difficult for me to follow his plan,” Pogacar said during last year’s Tour. “It took me four years to fully go along with his schedules. But now I also weigh all my food. That was a big change for me.”
Gap between UAE and Visma is closed
Due to all these improvements, the gap between UAE and Visma has been almost closed. The result was seen this Tour: Pogacar’s greater talent wins out over Vingegaard. The Dane from Visma was unable to drop his rival a single time in the past three weeks. Pogacar was (much) better this time on the Hautacam, Mont Ventoux, and Col de la Loze.
“It is clear that Jonas’s two Tour victories have ensured that Pogacar and his entire team have gone to work better,” says first sports director Grischa Niermann of Visma-Lease a Bike.
“In 2022 and 2023, he was already very good, but we could still catch him making a few mistakes or having lesser days. This Tour, he hasn’t flinched. And then he is the best and most complete rider in the world.”
According to Niermann, his team executed the plan “more or less” as it had been conceived in advance. And the former rider also saw a “very good” Vingegaard. “The only thing we can do is come back even better next year.”
Niermann can’t say much else. But he also knows the most important lesson of the 112th Tour. This Pogacar cannot be beaten. Whatever your plan.
Doping accusations
A dominant athlete inevitably faces doping accusations, especially in cycling. This is no different for Tadej Pogacar.
“I can only speak for myself and our team,” said Jeroen Swart, head of performance at Pogacar’s team, during the Tour to Bicycling. “But in my seven years in cycling, I have seen that the culture in the sport has completely changed since the Lance Armstrong period. And we want to keep it that way.”