Exclusive: Van Hooydonck pinpoints ‘where Vingegaard makes the difference’ over rivals

Nathan van Hooydonck has pinpointed what sets Jonas Vingegaard apart from Tadej Pogacar and the rest of his rivals as his former Visma-Lease a Bike team-mate goes for a historic Tour de France hat-trick this summer.

Should he top the general classification standings come July 21, Vingegaard will join an exclusive club of riders to claim the yellow jersey on three successive occasions.

It’s a list that contains some of the biggest names in the sport, including Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain, Chris Froome and Louison Bobet.

Yet it’s lofty company Van Hooydonck believes Vingegaard belongs in.

The Dane dethroned Pogacar in 2022, denying the Slovenian his own three-peat, and defended his title at the end of another gruelling duel with his fierce rival.

Van Hooydonck played a vital role in Vingegaard’s success in the iconic race before he was forced to retire in October 2023 after being diagnosed with a heart anomaly.

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‘Boom, he takes it!’ – Vingegaard’s top five wins in 2023 featuring THAT time trial

In an exclusive interview with Eurosport, the 28-year-old explained what makes Vingegaard such a formidable competitor.

“I think his ability to recover day in day out as good as he can because as we all saw Pogacar was equally strong actually in the first two weeks last year,” he said. “I think Jonas proved that in the third week that’s where he makes the difference.

“Also the belief in himself. I think he believes he’s the best and as soon as he commits to the start of the season, he only has the Tour de France on his mind.”

It’s set up to be one of the most fascinating Tours in recent memory. As well as Vingegaard and Pogacar, the spotlight will also be on Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

Roglic, 34, closed the book on his seven-year association with Visma-Lease a Bike at the end of last season and will be bidding to add the Tour to his past triumphs in the Giro d’Italia (2023) and Vuelta a Espana (2019, 2020, 2021).

As for Evenepoel, the highly rated Belgian is set for his long-awaited debut. The 24-year-old has downplayed his chances but Van Hooydonck is anticipating a four-way scrap for the top step of the podium.

“I think it’s going to be a very hard contested Tour de France,” Van Hooydonck added. “I think the four best stage racers, they’re all going to attend the Tour and I think that’s how it should be.

“The best stage racers should race in the Tour de France because that’s what counts, that’s the most important.”

Pushed to choose a winner, however, the Dutchman admitted it’s hard to look past the defending champion.

“If I had to pick, I would pick Jonas any day of the week,” he said. “I’ve worked with him for two years quite closely, we’re still very good friends, I’ll go to his house to visit him before Tour, and I have an extreme amount of confidence in his ability to win the Tour three times.”

Final stage fireworks

For the first time in history, the Tour will conclude outside of Paris, owing to the impending Olympics in the French capital.

While that means there will be no sprint to the finish along the famous Champs Elysees, in its place a time trial between Monaco and Nice could provide fireworks.

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Shoot for the Giro-Tour-Vuelta treble? Try cyclo-cross? Pogacar answers the big questions

Not since 1989 has the battle for the yellow jersey come down to the final stage, and coming after two climbs, Van Hooydonck thinks there is plenty of potential for late drama.

“Paris is really the tradition but now with the Olympics I think it’s quite cool actually to see a time trial and from Monaco to Nice, also the last weekend actually is super hard,” he continued.

“Friday and Saturday have over 4,000 altitude metres and then there’s a really hard time trial to conclude so I think they’re gonna take all the fatigue from the last two mountain stages into the time trail and it might cause an even bigger time differences in than you might expect.”

And whether that will play into the hands of Vingegaard, Pogacar, Roglic or Evenepoel, Van Hooydonck concluded: “All four are quite good time trialists. I think if one of them wasn’t it would be very beneficial for the others but they’re all actually kind of equal.

“And they’re all very good climbers, they have a punch. I think it doesn’t really favour any of them.”

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Exclusive: Evenepoel will have ‘less pressure’ at Tour due to Vingegaard presence – Contador

Alberto Contador believes not being the favourite will help Remco Evenepoel (Soudal–Quick-Step) as the Belgian prepares to make his Tour de France debut this summer.

Evenepoel, 24, is no stranger to Grand Tours and won the 2022 Vuelta a Espana but is yet to go for glory in the most iconic race in the world.

The Soudal Quick-Step rider is considered one of the best all-rounders in the world and has said it would be a “dream” to secure a podium at the culmination of the 2024 Tour, which this year ends in Nice due to the Paris Olympics.

However, Contador, a two-time Tour winner in 2007 and 2009, thinks it will be hard for a rider of Evenepoel’s calibre to completely rule out a momentous debut victory.

“I think when Remco Evenepoel gets his gear on and gets on his bike every day and goes out to train, he goes out thinking about winning the Tour de France,” Contador told Eurosport. “Because that is the mentality you have to have.

“We know he is a champion. He has an extremely ambitious mentality when it comes to objectives, as hard as they may be.

“On the other hand, I do think he will be under slightly less pressure than he would be on a Giro d’Italia or on a Vuelta because of Jonas Vingegaard, who is showing how solid he is on the Tour de France, so he has to show that respect.”

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Stage 4 Highlights: Evenepoel storms to dominant victory in time trial

If he is to dethrone Visma-Lease a Bike’s Vingegaard, who is going for a three-peat this year, Contador says he will have to prepare unlike he has for any race in the past.

“I think the fact that Remco decided to go to the Tour de France this year will change his preparation – he will have to focus on reaching his peak in the month of July,” the Spaniard added.

“I am sure it is a race he has always dreamt of winning. You need that in order to make sacrifices and give it 100%.

“I think he will have less pressure. When the odds come out, we will see Vingegaard as the favourite, it won’t be Remco. And that could be of benefit to him. It could lessen the pressure although the pressure he puts on himself will probably be greater than anything else external.

“So I think it will be a nice challenge and I think it is important that Remco knows what it is to race the Tour de France because it is an important race to know.”

As part of his preparation, Evenepoel will compete in the eight-stage Paris-Nice race for the first time.

The ‘Race to the Sun’ takes place from March 3-10 and will see Evenepoel go up against the likes of Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe), David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ), Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Joao Almeida (UAE-Team Emirates).

It’s a move which has been backed by Contador, especially since, for the first time in its history, the Tour will conclude outside of Paris.

Due to this summer’s Olympics in the French capital, the iconic Champs Elysees sprint will, for once, not bring the curtain down on proceedings.

In its place, a time trial between Monaco and Nice means the battle for the yellow jersey will come down to the final stage for the first time since 1989.

“I think racing Paris-Nice is the correct decision for Remco,” Contador said. “It is a race that in the end takes place in France, and especially this year. Why? Because it coincides with the fact that this year the Tour de France finishes in Nice.

“We know that Paris-Nice always finishes in Nice so the last stages will be fun and him having been there recently could always help boost confidence.

“And of course, as he is going to Paris-Nice, he will capitalise and take a closer look at some of the stages that could be key during the month of July.”

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Vingegaard says Tour de France ‘harder than ever’ as four-way showdown looms

Two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard believes the Tour de France will be “harder than it’s ever been” to win in 2024 due to a stacked field of contenders.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider has claimed the yellow jersey in each of the last two years, seeing off competition from chief rival Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).

But with Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) also eyeing a bid for glory in the most illustrious race of the year, the Dane has no doubts about the challenge ahead.

“For sure the competition will be harder than it’s ever been and for sure it will be harder as well to win it,” Vingegaard told reporters.

“Of course, we just have to look at ourselves and do the best possible preparation, get there in as good as possible shape and then we will hopefully win. And if someone else is stronger, then that’s how it is.”

Vingegaard is in action for the first time this year on Thursday at O Gran Camino in Spain.

It is the first date in the 27-year-old’s diary in a year in which he is aiming to become the first rider since Chris Froome in 2017 to claim three consecutive Tour crowns.

Vingegaard described that objective as his “number one goal of the season” but said he will not commit to the Vuelta a Espana until after the Tour.

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‘The four best GC riders in the world are on different teams – you can’t ask for more than that’

Before then, the first Grand Tour of the season will take place at the Giro d’Italia.

Pogacar will be among the contenders having chosen to pursue a first maglia rosa, but Vingegaard isn’t convinced that his old rival will suffer in France from his efforts in Italy.

“I don’t know about that,” Vingegaard said.

“I expect him to be at his best in the Tour along with Primoz and Remco. It’s going to be a very nice fight there with them, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Roglic was a team-mate of Vingegaard’s until the end of last season when he departed for Bora-Hansgrohe, while Visma-Lease a Bike will be without Wout van Aert at the Tour, with the Belgian riding the Giro instead.

“It’s going to be very different now to race against Primoz, for the last five years we’ve been team-mates, always standing together,” Vingegaard said.

“Now we are on opposite teams, and both just have to fight for the win, so of course that’s a strange feeling.

“For sure I will miss Wout in the Tour, too, we’ve seen in the last three years how important he is. On the other hand, I’m also looking forward to seeing him in the Giro and I will be cheering him on there.”

The Tour de France starts in Florence on June 29 and concludes in Nice on July 21.

Stream top cycling action, including all three 2024 Grand Tours, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

‘All or nothing’ for Cavendish in bid to break Merckx Tour de France record – Blythe

Mark Cavendish wants to “go down in the history books” and the veteran sprinter faces an “all or nothing” 2024 season as he bids to break Eddy Merckx’s Tour de France stage record, says Adam Blythe.

The 38-year-old extended his career another year after crashing out of the 2023 Tour to scupper his effort to win a historic 35th stage at the most illustrious race in the sport.

Cavendish, who is riding for Astana Qazaqstan Team this season, will be giving everything towards achieving a landmark win in France, according to Blythe.

“Being the champion that he is, literally being the best of all time, that man’s palmares just shines through. He’s probably the greatest sprinter in history,” Blythe said, speaking on ‘The Breakaway’ as part of Eurosport’s UAE Tour coverage.

“To see him back is not a surprise. For Mark, he had unfinished business at the Tour; [he was] second on a stage last year, he had a mechanical problem, and then crashing out.

“For him, he wants that Eddy Merckx record. It is about that. It’s not all about that, it’s the pure love of cycling as well, but he is a champion and he really wants to go down in the history books as the greatest sprinter of all time, the most successful rider in the Tour de France of all time.”

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‘Absolutely heartbreaking’ – McEwen salutes Cavendish after Tour farewell ends in crash

One man who will be helping Cavendish in his bid for history is Danish leadout rider Michael Morkov, a former team-mate of the Brit who joined him at Astana Qazaqstan for the 2024 campaign.

“In the team he’s in now it really is all or nothing,” Blythe added.

“He’s moved Michael Morkov across, he was looking at retirement, Cav asked him to come across and he’s come across.

“Having them two back together, Cav had his most successful years when they were together. It is all or nothing, one year to do it all, and he’s got the best team around him to try and do that. He’s not holding anything back. Every single race, every single training, will matter that little bit more than it has in the past few years.”

Cavendish’s glittering CV on the road includes 34 stage wins at the Tour, 17 at the Giro d’Italia and three at the Vuelta a Espana, as well as a World Championships title.

But Dan Lloyd thinks that even a man as experienced as the Manx Missile might find the task ahead a daunting one.

“He’s used to dealing with the pressure but this, even for him, will feel like such a huge year,” said Lloyd.

“I wouldn’t say it’s now or never, he’s obviously got an incredible career already, but if he can just take that one win in July, it would cap off the most incredible career.”

The 2024 Tour de France begins on Saturday, June 29 and will be live on discovery+ and Eurosport.
Stream top cycling action live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com