Vingegaard is stronger than in 2023, but this is not enough for Pogačar

Tadej Pogačar 's superb performance on the Tourmalet once again highlighted how the gap between him and the rest is increasingly unbridgeable; even on the part of Jonaas Vingegaard, who many, on the eve of this 2026 Tour de France , saw as his rival for the yellow jersey.

This is even more impressive if we compare the times on the Tourmalet recorded by the two riders in 2023 (the year in which the Dane won the Grande Boucle): both Pogacar and Vingegaard, three years ago, recorded a time of 45'35", while in this Tour Pogacar stopped the clock at 43'12" and Vingegaard 43'43".

It's true that the stages weren't exactly the same, but they were similar; in any case, the current Vingegaard has improved his performance compared to 2023 , and let's remember that in the midst of this, the Visma Lease a Bike captain suffered a terrible accident at the Tour of the Basque Country.

Pogacar, therefore, has improved even further in recent years , but what was also impressive in the sixth stage of the Tour de France was the supremacy of the UAE team, with masterful work and a sustained pace already on the Aspin. Pogacar, at the moment, is faster than Vingegaard, but the Dane can't even count on the world champion's teammates.

"Vingo", in fact, tried not to lose too much contact with his rival on the Tourmalet (succeeding, in part), but then paid the price in the subsequent descent and on the final climb (which was far from demanding), where Pogacar still had energy to make the difference (so much so that he even gained on the larger group of Evenepoel and Lipowitz ), while Vingegaard was weighed down and could not even count on the help of a teammate ( Kuss had returned to the Evenepoel group , but practically never helped his captain).

It would have been more correct for Visma to slow down Vingegaard and have him arrive with the Evenepoel group to make the Dane use less energy (given that Vingegaard then arrived alone at 2'42" and the chasing group less than 3' behind).

In any case, since 2024, with new coach Javier Sola , Pogačar's bad days have become almost an urban legend. Goodbye to the collapses on the Col du Granon or the Hautacam of 2022-2023: now the question is no longer whether he'll lose ground, but how many more seconds he'll gain. For fantasy cycling, there's only one piece of advice: Pogačar is indispensable , and anyone without him on their team faces a huge disadvantage after just six stages. The most credible opponents remain Vingegaard, who should be monitored closely, and Seixas, who could grow in the Alps. But for now, the 2026 Tour already has a master.

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency