After Team Sky’s metronomic dominance in the 2010s, a new era of the Tour de France began in 2020 with Tadej Pogacar’s incredibly dramatic victory in the Maillot Jaune. In the four editions since, the Slovenian’s iconic rivalry with Jonas Vingegaard has fueled the sport every summer and carved out a place in the annals of cycling history.
In the four Tours de France in which Pogacar and Vingegaard competed, there were two victories for the leader of UAE Team Emirates and two for the star of Team Visma – Lease a Bike, with neither of the two worse than in any of the four editions finished in second place. According to Tour de France boss, race director Christian Prudhomme, the rivalry between Pogacar and Vingegaard is best compared to one of the greatest duels of all time in tennis, Rafa Nadal versus Roger Federer.
When asked by Bici Pro whether Pogacar’s class in 2024 raises concerns about the future of the sport, Prudhomme responds using Nadal and Federer as a metaphor. “You ask me this question at a time when we are mourning the departure of a champion like Rafael Nadal and the matches that have taken place between him and Federer over the years,” he explains. “When Pogacar won the Laval time trial at the 2021 Tour, everyone was convinced he would win 6, 7, 8 times in a row.”
However, as we have seen, that was not the case as Vingegaard fought back and won two Maillot Jaune himself. “In the following two years, Vingegaard came and the chance seemed to be reversing. I hope that both protagonists will take part in the Tour de France without having to recover from a serious fall,” concludes Prudhomme, referring to this Bad luck that both of them had in preparation for the last editions. “In the last two years the imbalance has been caused by falls and injuries that have affected both of them, so I really hope that both of them are in top shape and then we’ll see.”
