On a day in which French radio described Harry Kane as the “Raymond Poulidor of world football” – Poulidor finished on the podium in the Tour de France eight times, but never won – Tadej Pogacar was, for once, not having to face the usual rest‑day questions about credibility that come with wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey.
Tricky questions were strategically ignored during the Giro d’Italia winner’s online press conference, in which the 25-year-old leader of the UAE Emirates team spent more time waxing lyrical about chocolate brownies rather than responding to questions about record-breaking climbing times.
“Don’t tell my nutritionist,” Pogacar said of his rest‑day ride, “but we stopped at the bakery, and I had one of the best brownies I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
Brownies are unlikely to be the secret of his success, and after winning both summit finishes in the Pyrenees, at Pla d’Adet on Saturday and Plateau de Beille a day later, the Slovenian now looks almost out of reach to his closest rival, Jonas Vingegaard, of Visma Lease-a-bike. Pogacar leads by more than three minutes.
“I think we all witnessed one of the best performances on the climb ever,” he said of his win at Plateau de Beille. “When I checked my [power] numbers after, they were really crazy, the highest numbers I have ever done in my career.”
Pogacar acknowledged, however, that Vingegaard and his team had done their utmost to take back time. “They showed balls, finally, and hit hard. Hats off to them.”
Pogacar has dominated professional cycling in 2024, winning one‑day Classics, short-stage races and also the Giro in May. As he seeks to complete a Giro-Tour double his peers, including Vingegaard, have been left floundering in his wake.
“Cycling is evolving so much,” Pogacar said. “Six years ago, when I came to this team, it was totally different. If I compare this year to my first year, it was almost amateur. Back then I thought everything was professional, but we’ve moved on really fast.”
Pogacar, established in the yellow jersey since stage four and winner of three mountain stages, is detonating the Tour’s records for stratospheric performances. The pace set by the Slovenian and his team has been hard on lesser mortals in the peloton. The French veteran Romain Bardet, the first maillot jaune of the 2024 race and now 1hr 42min behind the race leader, said: “The first two or three riders are in another universe, the level is just incredible.”
Pogacar suggested the growing rivalry between his team and Vingegaard’s Visma Lease-a-bike squad was fuelling innovation. “Every team is pushing each other, with technology, with nutrition, with training plans, with altitude camps. We push each other to reach new limits.”
Like others, Pogacar also cited technological advancement as a key reason for higher speeds. “The bikes now are so much faster, especially the tyres. They make the biggest difference from what we had six, 10 years ago. The wheels, the aerodynamics, the frames – it’s just amazing how different the bike is now compared to five years ago.”
With three summit finishes still to come and a closing time trial from Monaco to Nice, there are still plenty of opportunities for Vingegaard to make up for lost time. “I’m not giving up,” the Dane said. “I’ve won the Tour twice and I didn’t come here for second place.”
“They’re picking one stage [to attack], for sure,” Pogacar said of the stages to Isola 2000 and the Col de la Couillole. “I don’t think they are picking both Friday and Saturday. I think they will focus on one, but we will try to do our own race. Jonas said he’s not giving up and I think that’s correct.”
Six days and counting. For the riders who arrived shattered and shaking with exhaustion, at Plateau de Beille, the Tour’s final stage, next Sunday in Nice, is looming. The battle now for most of them, including Pogacar and Vingegaard, is as much psychological as it is physical, as they face up to a brutal final week in the southern French Alps.
