On the eve of the 2025 Tour de France the ultimate destiny of the yellow jersey felt finely poised. Two men had shared the top two steps on the podium for the previous four editions, an unprecedented feat. Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard stood head and shoulders above anyone else in the peloton.
By the end of the race last month, that was no longer exactly true. Vingegaard was still a league clear of any other rider. The problem was that Pogacar was a further league above him. Before, Vingegaard looked like Pogacar’s equal; now he is the nearly-man, the also-ran, standing in the shadow of his great rival.
