Within the absence of any apparent weak factors for Tadej Pogačar (UAE Workforce Emirates-XRG) on the 2025 Tour de France, one consider favour of his largest rival, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), is the return to a few mountain places the place the latter has had the benefit at earlier Excursions.
Iconic climbs have all the time proved the purpose of distinction within the race for the yellow jersey on the Tour de France. Be it the Alps, Pyrenees, Massif Central, or a sure ‘Big of Provence’, every climb on the Tour is filled with historical past and anecdotes of biking icons passed by.
These that includes within the 2025 route aren’t any completely different, and are anticipated to develop into the battleground for Pogačar and Vingegaard to face off on in simply days now. However three stand out from the remainder for a selected purpose, particularly given the present local weather of the Slovenian massively having the higher hand forward of the Grand Départ.
After Pogačar’s full climbing dominance on the final 12 months’s Tour, there are three days from earlier Excursions that Jonas Vingegaard will keep in mind effectively: Mont Ventoux in 2021, Hautacam in 2022, and the Col de la Loze in 2023. Every of them resulted in additional resounding separation from Pogačar in chronological order, the latter two making up a part of his back-to-back yellow jersey triumphs, and these climbs are again for 2025.
It will likely be a return to earlier looking grounds for the Dane, providing him the prospect to as soon as once more show superiority within the excessive mountains. Having raced for the primary time since March on the Critérium du Dauphiné and been effectively away from Pogačar’s climbing stage, he’ll want his remaining preparations to have closed the hole, however the trio of hellish climbs might develop into the difference-maker he is after.
However for Pogačar, it offers him a triple shot at redemption, and he’ll little question be determined for his UAE group to manage every of phases 12, 16 and 18 so he can precise his revenge for earlier losses on the planet champion’s or yellow jersey.
Cyclingnews has seemed again at these three days and the way the climbs can be tackled as soon as once more within the 2025 route as doubtless key flashpoints within the subsequent chapter of Pogačar and Vingegaard’s rivalry.
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Kuss, Van Aert and a ending transfer on Hautacam
Stage 12 will carry Vingegaard and Pogačar again to the place the 2022 race and the previous’s first yellow jersey was sewn up absolutely – Hautacam, a legendary hors catégorie climb within the Pyrenees on its seventh Tour look.
On that event, the harm had been completed by Visma up the Col du Granon every week earlier. However as Visma’s Sepp Kuss put in an enormous efficiency, and inexperienced jersey Wout van Aert lastly dropped Pogačar after getting within the break as a satellite tv for pc rider, Vingegaard rode to the stage victory atop Hautacam in yellow, including the cherry to his GC triumph.
Hautacam arrives earlier within the 2025 race, however with a comparatively simpler method. Three years in the past, it featured on a shorter 143km stage, with the HC Col d’Aubisque and Cat.1 Col de Spandelles because the warm-up, whereas in 2025, the Cat.1 Col du Soulor and Cat.2 Col des Bordères will make up the run-in on the 180km day.
After a brutal eight-climb day to Le Mont Dore on stage 10, which closes out the primary week on Bastille Day, the second week will burst into life after simply two phases en route from Auch to Hautacam for the GC favourites.
Pogačar can be eyeing brutal redemption after his loss in 2022, and Vingegaard can be in search of a repeat, because the race heads into his favoured territory for the primary time after 11 phases suited higher to the world champion’s strengths. It is set to be a belter.
Danes have nice reminiscences from Hautacam, not solely from Vingegaard, but additionally Bjarne Riis, who climbed the 13.5km and seven.8% common gradient in a file time of 34:41 en path to total victory on the 1996 Tour. That file doubtless will not be standing after July 17 this 12 months, although it’s Pogačar who seems to be the extra prone to break it for the second, on his first shot at revenge.
A primary signal of weak spot on Ventoux
The 2021 Tour got here with out a lot pressure for Pogačar, who dominated from begin to end, particularly within the mountains, however stage 11’s double Mont Ventoux ascent supplied a glance into the long run and an indication of issues to return from his rising rival.
Vingegaard, who began that Tour as help for Primož Roglič, got here to the fore on the legendary Provence climb, dropping Pogačar and displaying that the would-be two-time champion was not, actually, as invincible as he appeared.
In the end, regardless of climbing quicker, Vingegaard was caught on the descent end by Pogačar into Malaucène, nevertheless it laid the groundwork for what Visma tried and achieved on Granon and Hautacam a 12 months later. He’ll need to full what he began 4 years in the past.
Because the moonscape of a Tour icon rears its head as a summit end as soon as once more, for an eleventh time, a brand new legend can be added to the likes of Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Eddy Merckx, and, most just lately, Thomas De Gendt, who’ve felt the euphoria of conquering Ventoux.
Arriving on stage 16 to open up the ultimate week of decisive GC racing, Ventoux would be the showcase of a hockey stick 171.5-kilometre route, with a pure take a look at up the 15.7km from the Bédouin facet.
Historical past suggests {that a} single climb day ought to swimsuit Pogačar’s explosivity higher, however Vingegaard will enter the day understanding that the final time they met on Ventoux, he confirmed the world he might climb on the identical stage, if not increased, than his rival. After falling behind him over the previous two seasons, it could possibly be the right place to take again the crown.
Ventoux has lengthy been one of many Tour’s most particular ascents, so it is solely proper that one in all these two trendy greats will get to write down their title into its historical past.
“I am gone. I am useless”
Alongside all of his to date 99 skilled victories, one of the crucial memorable moments of Pogačar’s illustrious profession will ceaselessly be his capitulation on the Col de La Loze within the 2023 Tour.
Having suffered defeat by the hands of Vingegaard on the time trial to Combloux a day prior, Pogačar entered stage 17 with time to make up, however with the toughest mountain stage of the race providing him an opportunity to do it.
Nevertheless, on the decrease slopes of the brutal climb en path to the end in Courchevel, there was a tragic scene for the Slovenian, together with his jersey unzipped, his face visibly displaying weak spot, and a spot rapidly forming between him to the remainder of the GC favourites.
The race was over as he haemorrhaged time, and the brand new in-race radio provided up its worth in a single sentence as Pogačar conceded: “I am gone. I am useless.” He would go on to lose 5:45 to his rival as he was guided house by Marc Soler.
Stage 18 of the 2025 Tour brings the Col de la Loze again in as the best level of the race (Memento Henri Desgrange), however the riders will climb it from a distinct route and and not using a descent and altiport run to the road, now ending on the summit.
As an alternative of turning out of Courchevel in direction of Meribel, the 2025 route will carry the riders via the altitude-numbered ski resorts, up the Col de la Loze facet they descended in 2023, with the 26.4km climb averaging a 6.5% gradient. It will likely be a 5450m elevation achieve stage, with the Col du Glandon (21.7km at 5.1%) and Col de la Madeleine (19.3km at 7.8%) previous the summit end.
Because the GC hole exploded two years in the past from 10 seconds at first of stage 16 to greater than seven minutes after that journey up and down the climb, Soler, who stayed with him to the road, has confirmed it is going to be revenge that Pogačar is after.
“It was a tricky day, bodily and mentally. I did all the things I might to inspire him, nevertheless it did not work anymore,” Soler informed WielerRevue.NL.
“This 12 months it is from the opposite facet, however nonetheless, we’re returning to the climb the place it went flawed two years in the past. We nonetheless joke about that day generally. Particularly in regards to the face he stated I pulled whereas motivating him. It is an anecdote we nonetheless inform generally, however this 12 months we need to present that we are able to win on the Col de la Loze. It is a good second to take revenge!”
Whereas historical past is on Vingegaard’s facet, with Pogačar additionally shedding time to Primož Roglič up the brutal Alpine climb within the 2020 Tour’s Queen stage, that iconic day in 2023 is maybe the final actual ‘dangerous day’ the world champion has had on the bike, the place he utterly cracked.
Revenge and one other stage victory in yellow is probably going what Pogačar can be after in 2025, to each all-but cap off a fourth GC victory on the Tour de France, but additionally to proper the wrongs of that earlier defeat.
Pogačar’s revenge path is already underway
Hautacam, Mont Ventoux and the Col de la Loze really made up three out of 4 climbs the place Pogačar has beforehand struggled on the 2025 calendar, with Tour organisers ASO additionally placing the Côte de Domancy and climb to Combloux on the route of this 12 months’s Dauphiné.
The day earlier than he stated, “I am gone. I am useless,” Pogačar was effectively overwhelmed by Vingegaard within the stage 16 time trial of the 2023 race, with the Dane storming his approach up the Domancy ascent, recognized for its use on the 1981 World Championships, the place Bernard Hinault gained, in among the finest ITT performances of all time.
It lastly introduced separation between the 2 favourites after two weeks of wheel-to-wheel battle. However when it returned to motion on the pre-Tour, eight-day WorldTour stage race in June, fortunes and type have been reversed.
Pogačar’s first revenge match of 2025 ended with him utterly flipping the script, dropping Vingegaard and the whole thing of the GC subject on the 20-minute climb, with a seated assault no much less, earlier than powering to a dominant stage win, with everybody, together with Vingegaard, shedding greater than a minute.
It was an indication of issues to return and laid down an ominous marker of simply how significantly better the world champion is in 2025, even on simply 6km of uphill. If the identical type is witnessed on the Tour, Pogačar can be due three extra servings of revenge, and Vingegaard can be left with bittersweet reminiscences of the climbs he as soon as conquered.
Individuals will little question complain of boring dominance and greed if Pogačar completes his arc of redemption on three websites of earlier defeat, however his starvation to take action will override any need to maintain the peace. He’ll need to win as many phases as doable en path to total victory, however these three are the phases he’ll need most.
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