Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar could once be split into two clear categories. The long-standing rivalry between the pair was so distinct because of each rider’s defining characteristics. One favoured a methodical approach on steady, long climbs, while the other preferred unexpected and punchy attacks which caught his rivals off guard. They raced with two different schools of thought, almost reflective of the two different personalities they showed in interviews and away from the race itself. But things are changing.
The first two stages of the 2025 Tour de France have seen a Visma-Lease a Bike on the offensive, unafraid to try and play UAE Team Emirates’ leader at his own game. In the crosswinds around Lille on Saturday, the Dutch squad were the first to take to the front and try and split the peloton with just under 20 kilometres remaining, and on the punchy climbs in the approach to Boulogne-sur-Mer on Sunday, it was not Pogačar making the surprise moves in the finale, but Vingegaard.
When the road kicked up with five kilometres to go and the lead group of around eight riders remained, the Danish rider shot off the front with a few powerful pedal strokes, forcing his rivals to react behind. This is not the Vingegaard we once knew, who would wait until his favoured terrain in the mountains to show his hand.
“The main goal is to test our opponents every day,” Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Grischa Niermann, commented after the stage. “We knew that to tire out guys like Van der Poel and Pogačar and to favour Jonas we need to make a hard pace on the climbs and that is what we tried to do. Matteo [Jorgenson] and Jonas played it really well in the final.”
Vingegaard eventually finished in third place on the stage behind Mathieu van der Poel and Pogačar, riders who are known to be historically far better suited to stage finishes like that in Boulogne-sur-Mer – a promising sign for the rest of the race.
“Of course there was no big attack yet, no big fight, no Jonas versus Tadej today. But this is a very explosive stage, and Jonas managed it really well. So we can see that his explosivity is a lot better,” Niermann continued.
Conversely to Vingegaard’s fresh approach to this year’s Tour, we’re also seeing a remarkably reserved Pogačar by his standards. While there were opportunities for the world champion to attack on stage two, he refused to be baited into making any moves, instead choosing to follow and conserve energy. UAE Team Emirates-XRG sports manager Maxtin Fernández, explained that the team’s strategy is to wait until later in the race for the defending Tour champion to lay his cards on the table.
“The objective is to save these days, get to the time trial, do a good time trial and try to save after the time trial until the final stage in the Massif Central at the end of the first week to be able to then fight,” Fernández said after stage two.
“Right now there are roundabouts, traffic islands, you can fall everywhere; simply the plan is to defend Tadej’s position. Today we wanted to make a smaller selection to right for the stage but we won’t be attacking with 80km to go – those stages come later on. We have to be prudent and we have to respect our rivals. They are big rivals – Vingegaard has won two Tours de France.”
Still with 19 stages of this Tour remaining, it is early to draw any conclusions as to which approach is going to pay dividends when the race heads into the high mountains over the next three weeks. However, we can ascertain that despite the record-breaking, perfect season that Pogačar has had so far, Visma-Lease a Bike and Vingegaard are not intimidated. They have come to this Tour de France for victory, and will try anything to wear yellow to Paris.
