Opinion: For Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard there's more than the Tour de France on the line
Who is going to emerge as the best stage racer in the world right now at this year's Tour de France?

Tomorrow at 4.05pm local time in the Haute-Savoie battle will resume in the most finely poised Tour de France in decades.
After nearly three days worth of frantic pedaling action (62 hours, 34 minutes and 17 seconds to be exact), only the best Olympians can run 100m in the time that separates first and second place.
At the average speed Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar climbed the final climb to Saint Gervais Mont Blanc on Sunday their 10 second time gap equates to just 60m. The length of five double decker buses.
Ostensibly, the most coveted piece of sportswear is on the line, the Tour de France yellow jersey. Both men already have one hanging in their closets back home in Jutland, Denmark and Monaco respectively. That fact is part of why there is a good natured mutual respect between the pair.
But on this three weeks of racing hangs much more than just the Tour de France title itself. It’s the status as the World’s Best Stage Racer Right Now.
It’s a title that lives only in coffee shop conversations, in cycling club discourse while out on the road or in cycling press opinion pieces. But it matters. It might not matter to the men racing, but it matters to their legacy. In years to come, who will be remembered as the better of the two?
While the Tour is unquestionably the biggest race in the world, a stage race like no other, the winner of it cannot always claim that 'Best' title outright. Crashes, mechanicals, illness, misfortune, doping can all serve to cast doubt on the Tour winner’s prowess. Either at the time, or in the years after.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
That’s not to say they don’t deserve the Tour win - the only thing you need to do to deserve the Tour win, is to win the Tour - but it is to say that unless you beat the best and there were no viable excuses, you cannot claim the title of World’s Best Stage Racer Right Now.
You can put one hand on it, put a down payment on it, but not hold it aloft on the podium in Paris. To do that you have to win it in that rarest of things - a cycling unification bout. That’s the kind race Pogačar and Vingegaard are currently engaged in.
It's the kind of race that helps settle the question, but it's a kind of race that not everyone gets to compete in, not even some of the greats who held that 'World's Best' title. For all his dominance, five-time winner Miguel Indurain was never really challenged, that is until he reign was over.
Jan Ullrich, winner at the age of 23, briefly held the 'World's Best' title until his demons got the better of him while Lance Armstrong held it for seven years, then lost it. For a short while it lay unclaimed, until Alberto Contador and then Chris Froome came along, each winning multiple Tours, along with the Giro and La Vuelta and often in impressive fashion.
Fast forward to 2023 and the records of our two protagonists suggest Pogačar is the better. Already a two time winner, he has also won on the cobbles of Flanders and the hills of the Ardennes, his 2023 palmares looking like something from the junior ranks.
It contains a win-rate of a once in a generation rider (14 wins from 21 race days prior to the Tour) with an insatiable hunger for dominance.
Meanwhile, Vingegaard, the less impetuous of the two, has a record of measured, calculated consistency with GC wins in every stage race he’s done, bar a lone loss to Pogačar at Paris-Nice. But if Vingegaard can beat Pogačar then the Dane's achievements are all the more impressive.
In retrospect, it was the perfect pre-amble to what has been, after two weeks of racing, a Tour de France showdown for the ages. At the end of it one can legitimately claim to be the best stage racer of their generation, at least until there’s a rematch, the other will lose. But whatever the result, we, those that get to witness it, all win.
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.
-
Tom Pidcock’s Q36.5 receive Giro d’Italia wildcard invite along with Tudor Pro Cycling
Team Polti Visit Malta and VF Group BardianiCSF - Faizane also receive invitations from RCS
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Be seen all year round with 35% off Magicshine bike lights in the Amazon Big Spring Sale
This is your last chance to seize a deal on some of the best bike lights with daylight running features. Act fast, as the sale ends at midnight tonight
By Matt Ischt-Barnard Published
-
Extra wildcard team approved for Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España
Number of teams to increase from 22 to 23 at men's Grand Tours
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Tadej Pogačar commemorates Strade Bianche crash with limited edition t-shirt - here's how you can buy it
Part of profits from new t-shirt will go to world champion's charity foundation
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Jonas Vingegaard out of Volta a Catalunya after Paris-Nice crash
Visma-Lease a Bike say two-time Tour de France winner needs more time to recover from wrist injury sustained in France last week
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'We've all got a little bit extra in us this year' - Ineos Grenadiers recapture 'fighting spirit' with aggressive Paris-Nice display
British team continue to put tumultuous 2024 behind them with momentum and a new found mentality
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Matteo Jorgenson aiming to 'set the bar higher' and target a Grand Tour after securing second Paris-Nice title
American explained that targeting a win in one of the sport's biggest three-week races was now the logical next step in his career
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Matteo Jorgenson rules out Tour de France leadership after Jonas Vingegaard's withdrawal from Paris-Nice
The American is on the cusp of a second consecutive victory at the Race to the Sun
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Jonas Vingegaard abandons Paris-Nice after stage 5 crash
Former Tour de France winner to recover from injuries at home
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'The legs were on fire' - Lenny Martinez powers to victory on stage 5 of Paris-Nice as Matteo Jorgenson moves back into the race lead
American takes over the yellow jersey after Jonas Vingegaard ships time on steep final climb to La Côte-Saint-André
By Tom Thewlis Published