“I expected a lot more from Jonas Vingegaard at La Vuelta” – Rasmussen disagrees with claims Visma leader is best Danish rider in the peloton

Denmark’s golden era has rarely felt richer. Jonas Vingegaard finished 2025 as the nation’s top-ranked rider globally after winning the Vuelta a Espana and taking second at the Tour de France, while Mads Pedersen produced a wall-to-wall campaign that rarely dipped. Ask former Tour de France star Michael Rasmussen, though, and the consensus doesn’t tell the whole story.“Naturally, it’s a matter of taste,” Rasmussen said on Viaplay. “I just think Mads has shown greater consistency this year. Jonas has had some dips along the way from his incredibly high level. It’s an enormously high level that Jonas delivers – he goes through the Vuelta without being at 100 percent and still wins it.”

Rasmussen acknowledged Vingegaard’s remarkable standard but said that across the full season, Pedersen had maintained a steadier rhythm of results across the whole course of the season.

“I expected much more from Jonas”

Rasmussen’s comments come despite Vingegaard’s strong campaign, which included victory at the Vuelta a Espana and second place at the Tour de France. Yet the former Danish champion admitted he was left underwhelmed by certain moments.

“I expected much more from Jonas at the Vuelta too,” Rasmussen said. “On paper, Jonas should have come away from the race with at least twice as many stage wins. He got three, but it was by the skin of his teeth. It was only on the final stage that I felt Jonas really proved he was the best man in the race.”

Rasmussen also referenced the European Championships, a race where Vingegaard’s early withdrawal drew criticism. While he was one of the first to question the Visma leader’s decision to start, Rasmussen was careful not to overstate its importance. “No, that wasn’t the deciding factor,” he clarified. “The disappointment for me was that Jonas didn’t reach the level I expected of him at the Vuelta. That’s what mattered.”

Pedersen’s remarkable season

Pedersen’s 2025 campaign included 14 victories, among them seven on the WorldTour, plus the points jerseys at both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. He also reached the podium at the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, and E3 Saxo Classic, closing the year fourth in the UCI World Ranking.

Rasmussen’s preference for Pedersen over Vingegaard has divided opinion in Denmark, where Grand Tour success is often seen as the ultimate benchmark. But his comments underline that for him, consistency and range across the season outweighed isolated peaks of brilliance.