![\"Jonas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/\/c868b1ad-b4d9-4b8d-bbfe-86166d4f411f.jpg\")
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The pair lock horns on the 2023 Tour<\/p>\n
REX<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m definitely planning to go all in,\u201d Vingegaard said before stage one. \u201cHonestly, it would be strange to hold anything back. So yes, I think it\u2019s going to be proper racing \u2014 flat out from everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
A typical comment from Pogacar, perhaps, or Mathieu van der Poel, but uncharacteristic from the \u201cquiet\u201d Dane. Vingegaard is not like Pogacar. Pogacar is symbolic of a new style of racing since 2020: he fights for every race, he wants to win, he wants to attack, he likes a hard pace and he loves it when the games begin. <\/p>\n
Vingegaard on the other hand, is far more traditional \u2014 he leans on his team-mates, bides his time and attacks in the high mountains and time-trials when he can make a difference. It is an altogether more \u201cTeam Sky\u201d style of racing. He also focuses on the Tour, sitting out the one-day Classics that Pogacar loves so much.<\/p>\n
This, then, is a battle of the artist and the engineer. One rides on inspiration, the other on calculation. <\/p>\n
So it was perhaps surprising to see that it was Vingegaard that made the decisive attack on stage one between Dom\u00e9rat and Montlu\u00e7on. <\/p>\n
After a few testing accelerations from the likes of EF Education\u2013EasyPost\u2019s Archie Ryan and Ben Healy it was atop the final climb of C\u00f4te de Buffon that Vingegaard broke for it. Pogacar was forced to respond and so was Van der Poel and Santiago Buitrago \u2014 soon a gap was made.<\/p>\n
Remco Evenepoel was caught out at first, but then burst out of the peloton as it roared along at 55km\/h and sprinted to the group closing the gap in seconds. An incredible display of power no one from the peloton could match \u2014 a good omen for the Belgian, who is also looking near his best.<\/p>\n
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies once<\/p>\n In the end the group would just about make it to the finish as the peloton launched its bunch sprint behind. Van der Poel attacked early, knowing it was the only chance, but it was Pogacar who would take advantage of the tiring Dutchman and take first blood ahead of Vingegaard in second place. Evenepoel would come in fourth after being the main driver of the group.<\/p>\n By launching an attack on what should have been a day to roll in behind a sprint finish, it seemed Vingegaard was trying to out-Pogacar Pogacar and in so doing managed to outsprint even Van der Poel. It was a statement of intent \u2014 a new Vingegaard in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it might be the first time I\u2019ve ever finished second in a bunch sprint,\u201d Vingegaard joked afterwards before putting on the sprinter\u2019s Green Jersey (which he looked after for Pogacar on stage two).<\/p>\n \u201cI just followed the wheels today,\u201d Pogacar said. \u201cI never attacked \u2026 I think it\u2019s a good sign. [Vingegaard\u2019s] in good shape, he wants to race, he wants to have fun on the bike \u2026 It was nice to see everybody in good shape. But now maybe I can be scared a little bit because they\u2019re so good.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dauphin\u00e9 should offer an interesting insight into the psyche of the two riders before they take on the Tour<\/p>\n ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Visma were the better positioned team for most of the day, their line of yellow and black \u201cbumblebee\u201d jerseys always at the front of proceedings with valuable lieutenants like Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss surrounding their leader. Pogacar, on the other hand, seemed to have to fend for himself at times.<\/p>\n This is a lesson Visma will have honed with Simon Yates at the Giro d\u2019Italia. Before Yates could set off alone up Colle delle Finestre on the penultimate stage on his way to overall victory<\/a>, he had to be safe and without injury. The Visma team suffered no DNFs in the Giro, which means they kept their strength intact and, perhaps more importantly, kept Yates positioned perfectly.<\/p>\n![\"CYCLING-FRA-DAUPHINE\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/\/078604dd-3a0f-4442-bdf0-966a46f50b52.jpg\")
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