Tour de France magazine 2025 | Page 23

REMCO EVENEPOEL

“ My aim is to take the yellow jersey in the time trial and then defend it day to day.”

PRIMOŽ ROGLIČ

“ I can’ t influence his form, but I can show up as the best version of myself.”

JONAS VINGEGAARD

“ I believe that I can do much better and I can beat Pogačar at high altitude.”

PHOTOGRAPHS: CHARLY LOPEZ / ASO, UNIPUBLIC / CXCLING / NAIKE EREÑOZAGA, BILLY CEUSTERS / ASO

Although the Soudal Quick-Step leader has been beaten in the two stage races in which he’ s faced Pogačar, he has won all of their time trial encounters( 6-1), with the exception of the one in Nice at the end of the 2024 Tour. Earlier in that race, Evenepoel was second overall when he won the TT between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey-Chambertin, closing to 33 seconds on GC at the end of that 7th stage. A strategy based on this time trial superiority would be logical. This is how he constructed his success in the 2022 Vuelta, for example. And the Belgian, who can still contend for the white jersey, should also continue to make progress in the mountains.

Year Stage race POGAČAR EVENEPOEL ROGLIČ VINGEGAARD

2018 Tour de Slovénie GP Priessnitz spa( Course des Nations U23) Tour de l’ Avenir

2019 Itzulia Basque Country La Vuelta

2020 Critérium du Dauphiné Tour de France

2021 UAE Tour Itzulia Basque Country Tour de France

2022 Tirreno-Adriatico Tour de France

2023 Paris-Nice Tour de France

4 th by 2’ 16’’ 1 st( 1 stage)

1 st

In reality, there’ s never been a duel between the Slovenians, apart from at the 2020 Tour de France, where their fortunes switched so rapidly. The Jumbo-Visma team missed the opportunity to eliminate the rookie from the GC battle, as he wasn’ t one of the favourites for the yellow jersey. On stage 7 to Lavaur, they worked for Wout van Aert to win the stage, not to increase the gap in the overall classification on the riders caught out in the echelons, including Pogačar and Richie Porte( 1st and 3rd in Paris), who managed to limit their losses to 1:21. Roglič’ s three abandons due to crashes have tipped the balance still further, but this collector of Grand Tour trophies( 4x Vuelta, 1x Giro) remains a winning machine – when he can stay on his bike.

6 th

3 rd by 2’ 38’’( 3 stages)

4 th

1 st( 3 stages)

1 st( 2 stages) 2 nd by 2’ 43’’( 3 stages)

1 st( 3 stages) 2 nd by 7’ 29’’( 2 stages)

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– – –

– –

– – –

11 th by 4’ 20’’ –

– –

1 st( 2 stages) –

–

– 1 st( 1 stage)

Abandon( 1 stage) 2 nd by 59’’( 1 stage)

– 1st( 1 stage) Abandon

– Abandon

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Between them they’ ve taken the top two places in the overall classification at the Tour four years in a row. Their rivalry began a year after Pogačar’ s first victory in 2020. In head-to-head confrontations, they are at level pegging, but have yet to face each other in a situation where Tour preparations have gone without a hitch for either one or the other. Vingegaard made the most of favourable circumstances for both of his victories. This underlines that when“ Pogi” has some kind of setback, he’ s the most likely, indeed the only, rider able to exploit it at the Tour. It’ s also worth remembering that when their roles have been reversed, the Danish champion has also yielded to no one bar Pogačar: even after suffering a pneumothorax in April 2024, he bounced back by winning the Le Lioran stage and finishing the Tour in second.

– 5 th by 58’’

66 th by 41’ 34’’

32 nd by 30’ 30’’ –

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46 th( 1 stage) 2 nd by 52’’ 2 nd by 5’ 20’’

2 nd by 1’ 52’’ 1 st( 2 stage)

3 rd by 1’ 39’’ 1 st( 1 stage)

2024 Tour de France 1 st( 6 stages) 3 rd by 9’ 18’’( 1 stage) Abandon 2 nd by 6’ 17’’( 1 stage)

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