A familiar duel will define the 2025 Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard prepare to rekindle a rivalry that has dominated the sport’s grandest stage. When the peloton departs Lille on Saturday in a carnival atmosphere, all eyes will be fixed on the pair whose contrasting styles have produced some of cycling’s most compelling battles.

Pogacar, the Slovenian star of UAE Team Emirates, starts as the overwhelming favorite in bookmakers’ lists, eager to reclaim the crown from Vingegaard, who conquered him in back-to-back editions in 2022 and 2023. With three Tours already to his name and 99 professional wins, Pogacar enters the race determined to hit his century victory—and to prove once more that he can outmaneuver the Dane’s calculated brilliance.

“Jonas might be stronger in the mountains, so I’d better get ahead a bit early on with some bonus seconds,” Pogacar admitted, hinting at his intention to strike before the Alps.

Vingegaard, by contrast, prefers the patient approach that has become his trademark. The Visma captain tends to wait for a single, decisive moment—often high in the mountains—to unleash a race-defining attack. On Friday, he was resolute but reserved.

“I’m on the highest level that I’ve ever been,” said Vingegaard.

“If we didn’t think we could win, we wouldn’t be sat here,” said Visma team boss Grischa Niermann. “We have our plan, and it’s a good one.”

Their rivalry, now entering a sixth season, has evolved into one of the sport’s most enthralling sagas. Glimpses of Pogacar and Vingegaard dueling on Alpine climbs or along the sunlit roads of Provence have offered tension and spectacle worthy of cycling’s legends.

“The last five years have been intense between me and Jonas,” Pogacar reflected, speaking from the Lille opera house. “It’s a great competition and rivalry, and it will be interesting to see if the title changes hands again.”

While the sprinters—Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen and Italy’s Jonathan Milan—will likely dominate the flat, frenetic opener, the true battle for yellow is expected to erupt later. The volcanoes of the Puy de Dôme await on stage 10, followed by colossal climbs in the Pyrenees and a blockbuster final week in the Alps.

In this edition, raced entirely on French soil, every summit finish feels like another chapter in their see-saw struggle. Pogacar’s explosive instincts and Vingegaard’s cold precision promise another Tour defined by their rivalry. —AFP