Jonas Vingegaard is still "missing a little something" to compete with his Tour de France rival Tadej Pogačar at this year's race but Groupama-FDJ manager Marc Madiot has warned the Slovenian he can never have 100% control of what happens at the Tour.
World champion Pogačar, therefore, tops the Tour de France form rankings ahead of the Grand Départ in Lille on July 5, and is the favourite to add a fourth title to his bulging palmarès. Yet Madiot warned that a lot that can change during the race, and plenty of "pitfalls" that could hold the 26-year-old back.
"You don't need to be a great expert to say that Pogačar is the number one favourite. But you always have to be wary," Madiot told Cyclism'Actu.
"The Tour is three weeks with a lot of pitfalls: the mountains, the time trials, the tricky stages, the wind, managing the peloton..."
"There are a lot of parameters that you try to control, but that you never master 100%. There are always the vagaries of the race. So, everything remains open, even if on paper, Pogačar ticks more boxes than the others."
Madiot, who raced nine Tours as a pro before working at the race as the French team's manager since the late 90s, said that Vingegaard has catching up to do ahead of this year's race.
All three of last year's podium finishers, as well as other top contender Primož Roglič, are preparing for the race in the Alps at their team's respective altitude training camps. Vingegaard, Evenepoel, and Roglič are all based in Tignes, while Pogačar is training further south in Isola 2000.
The trio are all playing catch-up on Pogačar, who has dominated the 2025 season so far with 11 wins in 22 race days, including the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Dauphiné. Vingegaard, Evenepoel, and Roglič have eight wins between them, with their seasons to date affected by various injuries and crashes.
"We can see that Pogačar is at his best, especially in the mountains," Madiot said.
"There may still be a few details to adjust on the time trial, but overall, he's been very strong since the start of the season.
"Vingegaard seemed to be in good shape, but he's still missing a little something to compete with Pogačar across the board. There's clearly a gap between the two of them and the rest, even if Remco Evenepoel is also at an excellent level. Last year's hierarchy seems to be confirmed."
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