“There are 21 more days of racing, which means 21 more chances to crash,” warned Jonas Vingegaard about the 2025 start of the Giro d’Italia.

The 2025 Tour de France is already shaping up to be one of the most awaited in a long time. Jonas Vingegaard wants to win back the Maillot Jaune that he lost to his rival Tadej Pogacar earlier this year. Will Vingegaard be able to raise his level enough to beat an all-powerful Pogacar before next summer?

“I do believe that he can,” says Christian Vande Velde, an American former pro cyclist who finished fourth overall at the Tour de France, in the latest episode of NBC Sports Cycling’s Beyond the Podium podcast. There are a lot of things that go into this besides the fact that it’s an open bike race. That’s why there’s a race: anything could happen. As has been said before, you could get sick and not be as fresh when you get to the line. Also, Pogach crashed in Liege before the 2023 Tour de France. So the first thing you need to do is get as fit as possible before the race.

The race between Vingegaard and Pogach has been the highlight of the last four Tour de Frances. Vingegaard showed in 2022 and 2023 that he can push Pogacar further than anyone else in the pro field. In 2021 and 2024, the Slovenian beat the Dane to the finish line. “Jonas has a great chance to win a third Tour de France.” There’s no question about it, Vande Velde says. “Tadej Pogacar has the momentum though and in modern sports these days, when you have lost the momentum it’s really hard to get that back, but they (Visma ed.) have to get that back in someway shape or form.”

Vingegaard might try to build up his momentum by riding in his first Giro d’Italia in 2025 and trying to do what Pogacar did this year and win both the Giro and the Tour. Vande Velde says that Vingegaard and Team Visma | Lease a Bike might not be the smartest people to be doing this.

“Are you sure he’s going to ride in the Giro. The American thinks, “That’s a big risk!” If you race for another 21 days, there are 21 more chances that something bad will happen that you can’t control. Something goes wrong, it’s wet, you have a flat tyre, whatever!” Vande Velde tells us to be careful.