Former pro rider and now Eurosport analyst Brian Holm believes Jonas Vingegaard can beat Tadej Pogačar at this year's Tour de France after the Dane's dominant victory at the Giro d'Italia.
Holm followed the Giro d'Italia for Danish Eurosport from on the ground in Italy with writer and commentator Bastian Emil Goldschmidt, witnessing Vingegaard win five stages and control the race with help from his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates.
Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike are convinced that he is back to his best and that he will be even better for the Tour de France. Holm believes that should give Vingegaard the conviction to take on Pogačar in July.
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"He beat Pogačar twice already hasn't he? So why shouldn't he beat him again," Holm said, referring to Vingegaard's Tour de France victories in 2022 and 2023.
"Of course Pogačar is from another planet, he's like an alien. But everyone can have a bad day. There's a reason why nobody won the Tour eight times: sooner or later, something will unfortunately happen to Pogi. It can be a bad day, a crash or something that changes the race. So even if Jonas loses two or three minutes on an early mountain stage, he has to keep trying to beat him.
"Jonas is not the big favourite for this year's Tour, that's for sure, but that's probably an advantage for him. He's very good at racing from behind. He won't make any crazy attacks and always uses his team in a very good way. That could all make a difference in the Tour."
Vingegaard opted to stay in Rome for a few days after his Giro victory, with no formal celebrations planned in Denmark when he returns home. He plans to return to training next week and head to Tignes in the French Alps for altitude training in mid-June. The Tour de France starts in Barcelona on Saturday July 4.
Vingegaard is reserved and prefers to keep a low profile but Holm believes he is the most successful sports person in the history of Danish sport.
Bjarne Riis was feted as the first Dane to win the Tour de France in 1996 before later confessing to doping.
"Jonas' achievements are 10 times bigger than those of Bjarne Riis. I wouldn't even compare them, also because Bjarne was part of a different generation," Holm said.
"Jonas has won all three Grands Tours now plus 50 or so WorldTour races, not many riders can say that. To win all three Grand Tours, when you see the names of who did it before him, it's honestly still hard to understand that somebody can do it in the modern era, especially a Dane.
"I think he is the biggest sports person in Danish sports history. I cannot see who is better. It's hard to compare with football and we had Michael Laudrup who was a great player but Jonas has achieved something far more historical in cycling than Michael ever did in football.
Holm is known for his colourful career, his love of life, his own doping confession and work as a sport director with the likes of Mark Cavendish.
Vingegaard is very different but Holm suggested that he is widely admired in Denmark.
"He's not exactly a stand up comedian but that's OK," Holm said.
"Mads Petersen is more of a personality, he's more outspoken, he does television and commercials. But everybody in Denmark admires Jonas and some people love him for the way he is reserved and lives a quiet life.
"He's probably become famous also because he doesn't say too much. When he does say something it blows up quickly. He's famous for winning the Tour de France and now for making history by winning all three Grand Tours. I think that's a pretty good reason to be famous."
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