For Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, the hour of the great reunion a month from the Tour de France

The Slovenian and the Danish, who have only met on the Tour de France over the past two years, will be able to gauge the state of form of each from Sunday.

On March 12, 2023. This is the date of the last day when Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard met the iron on a weekly race during a Paris-Nice won by Slovenian. It therefore dates back more than two years, a little eternity on the scale of a very dense cycling calendar. Meanwhile, the two rivals only crossed twice: during the Tour de France 2023, won by the Danish then that of 2024, won by the Slovenian. The two rivals will find themselves on the Critérium du Dauphiné, which begins on Sunday June 8, from Montluçon, to end on Sunday June 15, on the Mont-Cenis set.

With a start-list Or “The best in the world are there”according to Romain Bardetwho competes there his last career race, the Dauphiné will offer a string of outsiders, among which we will not have to forget Remco Evenepoel. But it is obviously the duel between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard who will attract all eyes, less than a month from the Tour de France. To tell the truth, it will be above all the capacity of the second to respond to the first which will be scrutinized: the Danish has not run since its concussion detected in Paris-Nice, on March 14.

Three long months have passed and the leader of La Visma-Lease A Bike has grown away from looks, in internship. Here it is in front of the first revealer, during this unofficial rehearsal of the big loop. “I think I can beat him and be much stronger than last year. I am better than last year and that the previous year. I want to compete for the final victory”, immediately assembled the Danish before departure.

The real question will reside in its ability to resist a Tadej Pogacar every day which has turned even more this year as a dictator of the bitumen, with seven victories in 14 days of races. But the Danish does not intend to hide. “Compared to last year where he had a very discreet communication after his fall (at the Tour of the Basque Country)we have the impression this year that he sends strong messages, both by social networks and by his speaking, where he says that he is at his best level of form “observes Yoann Offero, consultant for franceinfo: Sport.

Flanked by his lieutenants Sepp Kuss and especially of Matteo Jorgenson, 2nd of the event in 2024 behind Primoz Roglic, the Danes will have his close guard to shake up a Slovenian kneaded with certainties and who seems to decide alone the fate of the races on which he aligns. “On A fear neither of vintgegaard nor of anyone. Tadej is used to being at the top all year round, and we expect the same thing on the Dauphiné “Andrej Hauptman, the sports director of Pogacar of the Emirates XRG.

On a course without a plain stage, Jonas Vingegaard will have no warm -up tour, but he had shown in the 2024 Tour that he did not need it. “Last year, on the Tour, while he was doing his recovery, he was the only one able to follow Pogacar's attacks in the final climb of the second stage. And finally, he held the suspense up to four days of arrival. So I think he's going to be fresh”contextualise Yoann Offredo.

“With the data, the runners know exactly their potential and what they are able to do. Vingegaard knows very well what to develop to follow a runner like Pogacar. If it is there, it is that in training, it is able to do it.”

Yoann Offdo, cycling consultant

In Franceinfo: Sport

Faced with a pogacar who is not used to housing his race on others, Jonas Vingegaard will also enter a psychological war that he has the right to lose, but not with a crash, according to our consultant: “I think there will be a match, and anyway, there must be a match. If Vingegaard loses 20-30 seconds on Pogacar on the time trial, it will be a fairly disturbing sign. He must be in the nails, that he responds present in the high mountains and on the time “estimates Yoann Offedo.

The sample of this warm -up war will give lessons, but only the Tour de France, which they each won twice, will give the truth on July 27. “When you are a big leader and you want to win the Tour, you have to score points psychologically and physically. So Vingegaard has every interest in embarking on the battle with Pogacar“, estimates Yoann Offfredo. “The fact that Pogacar has dominated the classics does not mean that he will dominate the tour“, Recalled the Danish. Leaving the pressure from the favorite to his rival is undoubtedly the costume that Jonas Vingegaard prefers to better surprise him.