Jonas Vingegaard didn\u2019t just win Paris-Nice. He changed the buzz around him.<\/p>\n
That victory mattered, but the way he raced mattered more.<\/p>\n
There was something different in how the Dane attacked across the \u201cRace to the Sun.\u201d There was a rawer damn-the-torpedoes attitude.<\/p>\n
The Visma-Lease a Bike captain will always be the economical, efficient Ice Man.<\/p>\n
But there is a more ruthless\u00a0edge coming into 2026. His attack in brutal conditions in stage 4 to Uchon revealed the steely character simmering behind his nice-guy exterior.<\/p>\n
That edge surfaced in a pre-race press conference ahead of the Volta a Catalunya, when a journalist suggested that critics claim the Dane is already a step behind Tadej Poga\u010dar after his Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche blowouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I would say they shouldn\u2019t be experts,\u201d said Vingegaard, according to Feltet<\/em>.<\/p>\n Not that he has anything to prove, but is this a tougher, more ruthless version of Vingegaard?<\/p>\n We\u2019ll find out this week at Volta a Catalunya.<\/p>\n Tadej Poga\u010dar isn\u2019t here, but Remco Evenepoel, Tom Pidcock, Oscar Onley, Jo\u00e3o Almeida, and a host of riders who are trying to edge in on Vingegaard\u2019s space will be.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why this week matters for Vingegaard and the narratives in 2026.<\/p>\n With Poga\u010dar out of the picture, the Dane has a clean shot to remind everyone he\u2019s still No. 2 in the peloton pecking order.<\/p>\n If Paris-Nice hinted at Vingo 2.0, Catalunya is where he can confirm it.<\/p>\n A hard week of racing, including two key summit finales, should put everyone in their place in Spain\u2019s oldest stage race.<\/p>\n That confidence is confirmed by what he\u2019s showing on the road.<\/p>\n \u201cI am very satisfied with how I feel on the bike at the moment,\u201d Vingegaard said in a team release. \u201cMy form is good, and compared to the same period last season, I am in a better position now.\u201d<\/p>\n After dodging bullets in a drama-filled winter, he attacked relentlessly at Paris-Nice and was racing with a no-gifts attitude. Two stage wins and a commanding\u00a0winning gap proved it.<\/p>\n Call it a leaner, meaner Vingegaard.<\/p>\n Not mean in the literal sense \u2014 family man Vingo is too nice for that \u2014 but there\u2019s a fresh sense of urgency in his attitude.<\/p>\n Healthy again after two frustrating seasons with setbacks, at 29, Vingegaard looks closer than ever to the best version of himself.<\/p>\n Vingegaard, like it or not, will always be measured against Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n And with Poga\u010dar coming off winning Milan-San Remo, Vingegaard admitted he was impressed.<\/p>\n But he shot down suggestions that he\u2019s somehow dodging Pogi by racing the Giro d\u2019Italia and shaking up his 2026 blueprint. Their first showdown won\u2019t come until the Tour de France.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really think about whether he is there or not. I choose the races I want to race, and then I race to win them,\u201d Vingegaard said during a pre-Volta press conference.<\/p>\n At Paris-Nice, Vingegaard looked unshackled by the weight of always being compared to the world No. 1.<\/p>\n Healthy again, Vingo attacked, dispatched rivals, and reminded everyone that \u2014 if not for Poga\u010dar \u2014 he\u2019d be top dog.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving a rival like Pogacar makes everyone work harder and have to step up to win. We try to get better every day,\u201d Vingegaard said.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar remains the sport\u2019s gravitational force, the rider who can force the peloton to bend the knee.<\/p>\n Their rivalry defines this era, but Vingegaard is no longer allowing it to define him.<\/p>\n He\u2019s still the only rider of this generation to break Poga\u010dar in a grand tour.<\/p>\n Now he\u2019s changing his calendar for 2026, targeting the Giro before the Tour. Not to avoid Pogi, but to race on his terms and chase a career-defining grand tour sweep.<\/p>\n Catalunya is the next stop on that road map, and unlike Paris-Nice, he will be facing off against a much deeper, more explosive lineup.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a strong field of participants at the start this week, so I expect a tough race full of challenges,\u201d Vingegaard said. \u201cI always start with the goal of winning, so that is the case again this week.\u201d<\/p>\n With the Giro looming, Catalunya is the final waypoint in his high-risk Giro-Tour double attempt.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter Catalunya, there are still five weeks until the start of the Giro,\u201d he said. \u201cBut first, the full focus is on the coming week.\u201d<\/p>\n The old Vingegaard might have treated this week as another step in the process of the slow build toward July.<\/p>\n Now he looks ready to send a message.<\/p>\n Not just that he can beat Poga\u010dar, but that he can beat everyone else, too.<\/p>\n Is this a new, more dangerous Vingegaard?<\/p>\n We\u2019ll find out this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/jonas-vingegaard-catalunya-pogacar-dangerous-2026-giro-tour\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/horizonvingo.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated March 23, 2026 11:27AM Jonas Vingegaard didn\u2019t just win Paris-Nice. He changed the buzz around him. That victory mattered, but the way he raced mattered more. There was something different in how the Dane attacked across the \u201cRace to the Sun.\u201d There was a rawer damn-the-torpedoes attitude. The Visma-Lease […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1843267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1843267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1843267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1843267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1843267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1843267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1843267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Catalunya test<\/h2>\n
![\"Vingegaard\"](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2265965391-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
There\u2019s always Poga\u010dar<\/h2>\n
![\"Vingegaard\"](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2266181293-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
Defending his ground<\/h2>\n
![\"Vingegaard\"](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2266181607-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")