On Thursday evening Jonas Vingegaard said his Tour wouldn’t begin until the Pyrenees. Tadej Pogacar said that’s funny, I too have always liked the Pyrenees, modesty making him reluctant to mention the times he’s won in these mountains. Quietly and in their different days, they set it up: bikes instead of horses but still the OK Corral.
In the past, what Vingegaard has said, Vingegaard’s done. Pogacar, too. Men of their word. So good they don’t need to big themselves up. For three Tours now, there has been the sense that Vingegaard is the better Tour rider. He left Pogacar behind on the Col du Granon in the 2022 race and then destroyed him on the Col de la Loze last year.
There were hints