A duel thrives on contrasts. As riders, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard probably have more in common than either man would admit, but the longer the pair define this era of the Tour de France, the more their rivalry has come to be defined by their differences.
As with McEnroe and Borg or Senna and Prost, the idea has taken hold that Pogačar and Vingegaard represent two very different modes of interpreting their sport. On a superficial level, it helps that Pogačar's smiling exuberance contrasts so readily with Vingegaard's more reserved detachment.
The differing ambiences around their team buses – warm handshakes among staff at UAE Team Emirates, cautious fist bumps over at Visma-Lease a Bike – only underscores that initial impression.
Even their shaving habits have been seized upon as a point of divergence. "I cannot grow a moustache, so no," Pogačar smiled when asked if he would copy Vingegaard's new facial hair.
The difference in their tactical approaches to this Tour, meanwhile, was illustrated clearly on the chemins blancs around Troyes on stage 9, when Vingegaard's carefully calibrated decision not to collaborate with Pogačar's attacks was met with frustration from the maillot jaune. It served to accentuate the caricatures of each man that exist in the popular imagination. Here was Pogačar, the impulsive risk-taker, always racing for the hell of it. There was Vingegaard, sober of judgement, always racing with a thought to tomorrow.
In truth, each man was simply intent on riding the stage in the way that best suited his capabilities on the day. Pogačar has a penchant for winning races on gravel, whereas Vingegaard was understandably cautious about his prospects, especially after his truncated build-up. As Philippa York pointed out on this site, there is no onus on Vingegaard to start racing on this Tour until he feels himself ready to do so.
Even so, the notion continues to linger that Pogačar and Vingegaard represent two different tactical 'schools' of cycling. If Pogačar's forcing on the gravel was cycling's equivalent of Pep Guardiola's high press, so the thinking went, then Vingegaard was 'parking the bus' in the manner of José Mourinho. The debate lingered on Monday's rest day – "It wasn't a lack of 'balls,' I just rode smart," Vingegaard said – though Pogačar confessed to having tired of the whole topic when he reported for the start of stage 10 in Orléans on Tuesday.
"About this racing intelligent or not, it's just nonsense in cycling," Pogačar said. "Right now, I'm in the leader's jersey. For me, it's intelligent to be in the lead now with a good gap. In the Tour de France, intelligence is important, but you need to have the best legs to win."
Third week
UAE Team Emirates sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez, meanwhile, was reluctant to delve too deeply into the whys and wherefores of Visma-Lease a Bike's strategy. In the Tour, like in any race, each squad races as they see fit, no more and no less.
"You can only really talk about what you do yourself. I don't have all the information, so I can't really give a solid opinion," Matxin told Cyclingnews in Orléans. "I don't know why they did it, but I have the maximum of respect for our rivals and I'm not going to criticise them.
"Everybody is free to do what they want to manage their strength and limit their weaknesses on any stage. Perhaps in this case, they were just looking to minimise their possible weaknesses on terrain that didn't suit them – but that's just an opinion as I don't have all the information about their thinking."
There were question marks about Vingegaard's readiness for this Tour given the serious injuries he sustained in the mass crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April, but the two-time champion has been solid thus far, approaching the midway point in third place, just 1:15 off Pogačar's yellow jersey.
In his rest day press conference, Pogačar dismissed the idea that he was fearful of Vingegaard's condition, going on to warn Visma off "trying to break him mentally." The occasional mind game, Matxin conceded, is all part of trying to win the Tour.
"The psychological side is clearly important too, riders send messages to their rivals," Matxin said. "But what's clear at this point is that Tadej is very strong, he's in better condition than he was on the Giro, so we're just focused on doing as well as we can with Tadej and the team. If the others are better or worse than previously, we'll see as time goes by. You don't win the Tour with your words, you win it with your legs."
Last year, Vingegaard outlasted Pogačar in the third week of the Tour to claim a resounding overall victory, and Visma-Lease a Bike again appear to be basing their strategy on the Dane's powers of endurance. The idea, it seems, is to stay in the hunt until the Tour's final act in the Alps and that novel concluding time trial in Nice.
Matxin disagreed with the idea that Pogačar had any kind of complex about Vingegaard's third-week prowess. Pogačar, after all, upset Jumbo-Visma late in the 2020 edition, when he divested Primoz Roglič of the yellow jersey on the penultimate day.
"Tadej won the 2020 Tour on his own merit, and he won the 2021 Tour on his own merit," Matxin said. "The 2022 Tour was lost because of one bad day for Tadej, so we lost it. In 2023, they [Visma] won it, they won it in the time trial. Now in 2024, we've gained time in the time trial rather than losing it. We know things can all change day by day, but I can tell you that Tadej is solid, he's calm."
Puy Mary and Pyrenees
Pogačar certainly enjoyed a calm afternoon on Tuesday when the Tour resumed after the first rest day, finishing safely in the main peloton to maintain his 33-second lead over Remco Evenepoel. When he took a seat in the press conference truck, he acknowledged that Wednesday's trek through the Massif Central to Le Lioran would be rather more eventful.
"They made it a bit too long, but the final of the stage is very nice and explosive, with good climbs," Pogačar said. "It's really hard to predict what's going to happen tomorrow."
The only certainty is that Vingegaard and Pogačar will watch each other closely from the climb of Puy Mary onwards. While Vingegaard's true condition was a mystery ahead of this race, Pogačar feels the Dane has by now offered a firm indication of his level.
"Yeah, I have a pretty good, strong sense, and I can also see my own numbers," said Pogačar. "So far, we went super fast in the time trial, we were 20 seconds faster than the record on San Luca and we also went record time on the Galibier. He's in pretty good shape, so for sure he's getting more confident for the final part. But we'll see in the Pyrenees how strong he really is."
On every Tour, in other words, there comes a point when the talking stops.
