Tadej Pogacar believes Jonas Vingegaard 'is missing a little bit' compared to previous Tour de France efforts

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Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar said he believes rival Jonas Vingegaard is "missing a little bit" at this year's race compared to their previous battles after another dominant victory for the Slovenian in Stage 14 on Saturday.

Pogacar describes 'unforgettable' day at Tour after putting on a 'great show'

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The contest between UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Pogacar and Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) has defined the previous five Tours, though the gap appears to be growing wider this year after Pogacar won his fourth stage of the race and extended his lead to 4'30" with a week still to go.

Vingegaard was the first rider to wear the yellow jersey in 2026 thanks to Visma's Stage 1 team time trial victory, but Pogacar made up the deficit within two days and, after a brief loan to Torstein Traen (Uno-X Mobility), the Slovenian has had a stranglehold over the yellow jersey.

In fact, Vingegaard is closer to Pogacar's UAE team-mate Isaac del Toro in seventh than he is to the leader, after the 22-year-old gained 54 seconds on the Dane on Stage 14.

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And although Vingegaard played down the manner of his performance on Saturday, Pogacar questioned whether his greatest rival was at the same level as previous Tours.

"If my power meter is correct when he was pulling, he did an amazing performance on the front," Pogacar told reporters after the race. "But I think honestly he is missing a little bit compared to the last few Tours.

"In the bigger mountains maybe he will get this extra boost and he will drop me there, you never know. But here I think he is missing a little bit.

Highlights: Pogacar storms to Stage 14 glory with unstoppable attack as Seixas takes white

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"It is a small percent and he is there with me, so I would not count him out for the coming days. Tomorrow is a good climb for him [to Plateau de Salaison] and both stages on Alpe d'Huez are good for him, too."

From the high point of 2023 when Vingegaard beat Pogacar by 7'29" with no other rider within 10 minutes, it is the UAE rider who has dominated in recent years, having won the past two editions of the race.

Vingegaard: It was not a bad day

Despite falling further behind Pogacar on Saturday, Vingegaard looked at the positives on a day when he improved his advantage over third-placed Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) by four seconds.

The 2022 and 2023 Tour de France winner attempted to go on the offensive early on the final climb. But after Pogacar attacked, Vingegaard focussed on battling Evenepoel, Del Toro and Frenchman Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM), with the latter pair gaining 12 and 10 seconds respectively at the finish.

"I am happy with my performance today," Vingegaard said in a Visma team statement. "It was certainly not a bad day. I learned a lot about myself today.

"My legs are at the level I wanted them to be. I am happy with how we rode as a team today. We did a good job."

Vingegaard has never finished lower than second in the Tour de France and has only once ended a Grand Tour off the podium - on debut at the 2020 Vuelta a Espana - but he has four more mountain stages and an individual time trial to navigate if he is to keep that streak going.

Sunday’s Stage 15 is the last action before a rest day and features a hors categorie climb up to the Plateau de Solaison Brison, before the action resumes on Tuesday with a race against the clock.

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