'Vingegaard gets transformed by the Tour de France' - former winner Vincenzo Nibali predicts Danish champion will radically raise his game against Tadej Pogačar this July

2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali
(Image credit: Getty Images)

2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali has predicted that Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) will be a 'transformed rider' this July as the Danish star battles to put his Tour victory tally back on a level footing with arch-rival and defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

Between 2012 and 2019, Nibali was the one rider to break Team Sky/Ineos stranglehold on the Tour de France, clinching the overall win in 2014 as well as four stages whilst leading the overall for a total of 19 days.

Also a winner of the Giro d'Italia in 2013 and 2016, as well as the Vuelta a España in 2010, Nibali told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sportt that while Pogačar is the favourite, Vingegaard will give him a serious run for his money.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.

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