HEAD TO HEAD

With the third instalment of Tadej Pogačar versus Jonas Vingegaard now complete, we are in the midst of one of cycling's great rivalries, only accentuated by the main players' contrasting characters. Vern Pitt explores how the psychology of rivalry impacts on top riders

-  Vern Pitt

French coffee is terrible. The historic French penchant for robusta beans combined with a seemingly lackadaisical commitment to brewing and roasting practices considered de rigueur elsewhere work to make a drink that is, to palates of most Europeans, little more than a bitter blunt caffeine delivery system.

Perhaps that's why Tadej Pogačar extended an invite to arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard to go for coffee on the Tour de France's second rest day. Under a picture of the pair inseparable atop Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc he wrote: "Heading into the rest day and straight to the coffee shop with Jonas Vingegaard."

Perhaps he hoped the friendly gesture would mess with his rival's head, or the coffee would upset his stomach.

Or perhaps it's a characteristic of a rivalry between the pair that while fierce on the bike seems unusually cordial off it. Rarely are either of the Tour galacticos anything less than magnanimous in defeat, giving the appearance of a genuine warmth in their relationship - albeit one conducted at a distance.

Asked if they'd be friends on the same team Vingegaard was generous in his praise. "I think we would. Tadej is a super-nice guy. I wouldn't say we are friends [or] that we see each other privately, but sometimes we speak a bit and he is a very friendly guy."

We tend to think of rivals as living off animosity, a grit that rather than grinding their gears propels them forwards. But that does not appear to be the case with Pogačar and Vingegaard. And yet they have dominated the 2023 Tour. What makes a rivalry like that tick? How can the sporting competition improve each rider? And how do they cope with the stress of it?