With the Tour de France still recent enough that it can still be glimpsed in the rear-view mirror, it's time for the third and final men's Grand Tour of the season – the Vuelta a España.

While it so often plays a subordinate role to its French and Italian counterparts, this year it finds itself in the limelight thanks to the participation of recent Tour winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). It's only his second participation, and the first since 2019, when he was still a mere mortal, albeit one for whom the future looked starry.

Victory here would mean he has won every Grand Tour – a feat achieved by his closest rival Jonas Vingegaard earlier this season. Visma-Lease a Bike's Vingegaard will not be challenging the Slovenian at the Vuelta, but he will face opposition from other quarters.

Four-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) leads the challengers, who also boast Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos), Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) in their ranks.

Against Pogačar they know they have a dizzying task, but he is human like the everyone else on the start list, and carrying the mental and physical fatigue of a recent Tour de France victory. Anything could happen.

Read on for the full startlist, with all teams confirmed. There are 23 teams with 184 riders at the race, so eight per squad.

Tour de France 2026 start list

Alpecin-Premier Tech
Ramses Debruyne (Bel, 23)
Kaden Groves (Aus, 27)
Michael Gogl (Aut, 31)
Francesco Busatto (Ita, 23)
Sente Sentjens (Bel, 20)
Lindsay De Vylder (Bel, 31)
Gal Glivar (Svn, 24)
Hugo Houle (Can, 35)

Bahrain Victorious
Pello Bilbao (Esp, 36)
Santiago Buitrago (Col, 26)
Roman Ermakov (Svn, 21)
Pau Miquel (Esp, 25)
Matevž Govekar (Svn, 26)
Jakob Omrzel (Svn, 20)
Mathijs Paasschens (Ned, 30)
Attila Valter (Hun, 28)

Decathlon CMA CGM
Léo Bisiaux (Fra, 21)
Oscar Chamberlain (Aus, 21)
Sander De Pestel (Bel, 27)
Felix Gall (Aut, 28)
Jordan Labrosse (Fra, 23)
Gregor Mühlberger (Aut, 32)
Matthew Riccitello (USA, 24)
Callum Scotson (Aus, 30)

EF Education-EasyPost
Richard Carapaz (Ecu, 33)
James Shaw (Gbr, 30)
Vincenzo Albanese (Ita, 29)
Markel Beloki (Esp, 21)
Alastair Mackellar (Aus, 25)
Darren Rafferty (Irl, 23)
Georg Steinhauser (Ger, 25)
Juan Felipe Rodriguez (Col, 25)

Groupama-FDJ United
Guillaume Martin (Fra, 33)
Olivier Le Gac (Fra, 33)
Rudy Molard (Fra, 36)
Clément Berthet (Fra, 29)
Bastien Tronchon (Fra, 24)
Enzo Paleni (Fra, 23)
Valentin Madouas (Fra, 29)
Rémy Rochas (Fra, 30)

Jayco-AlUla
Paul Double (Gbr, 30)
Finlay Pickering (Gbr, 22)
Alessandro Covi (Ita, 27)
Asbjørn Hellemose (Den, 27)
Jasha Sütterlin (Ger, 33)
Hamish McKenzie (Nzl, 21)
Koen Bouwman (Ned, 32)
Rudy Porter (Aus, 25)

Lidl-Trek
Mattias Skjelmose (Den, 25)
Mads Pedersen (Den, 30)
Thibau Nys (Bel, 23)
Julien Bernard (Fra, 34)
Lennard Kämna (Ger, 29)
Patrick Konrad (Aut, 34)
Jacopo Mosca (Ita, 33)
Mathias Norsgaard (Den, 29)

Lotto-Intermarché
Jarno Widar (Bel, 20)
Lars Craps (Bel, 23)
Luca Van Boven (Bel, 26)
Vito Braet (Bel, 25)
Steffen De Schuyteneer (Bel, 21)
Lorenzo Rota (Ita, 31)
Roel Van Sintmaartensdijk (Ned, 25)
Reuben Thompson (Nzl, 25)

Movistar
Orluis Aular (Ven, 29)
Enric Mas (Esp, 31)
Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel, 23)
Iván Romeo (Esp, 23)
Carlos Canal (Esp, 25)
Jorge Arcas (Esp, 34)
Raúl García Pierna (Esp, 25)
Pablo Castrillo (Esp, 25)

Netcompany-Ineos
Jack Haig (Aus, 32)
Lucas Hamilton (Aus, 30)
Axel Laurance (Fra, 25)
Oscar Onley (Gbr, 23)
Carlos Rodríguez (Esp, 25)
Embret Svestad-Bardseng (Nor, 23)
Josh Tarling (GBr, 22)
Ben Turner (GBr, 27)

NSN Cycling
George Bennett (Nzl, 36)
Jan Hirt (Cze, 35)
Hugo Hofstetter (Fra, 32)
Moritz Kretschy (Ger, 23)
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz, 33)
Pau Martí (Esp, 21)
Nick Schultz (Aus, 32)
Floris Van Tricht (Bel, 25)

Picnic PostNL
Guillermo Juan Martinez (Col, 21)
Mattia Gaffuri (Ita, 27)
Chris Hamilton (Aus, 31)
Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Fra, 23)
Timo De Jong (Ned, 27)
Gijs Leemreize (Ned, 26)
Oliver Peace (Gbr, 21)
Timo Roosen (Ned, 33)

Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
Primož Roglič (Slo, 36)
Gianni Vermeersch (Bel, 33)
Luke Tuckwell (Aus, 21)
Finn Fisher-Black (Nzl, 24)
Jordi Meeus (Bel, 27)
Gianni Moscon (Ita, 32)
Callum Thornley (Gbr, 24)
Frederik Wandahl (Den, 24)

Soudal Quick-Step
Fabio Van Den Bossche (Bel, 25)
Steff Cras (Bel, 30)
Alberto Dainese (Ita, 28)
Gianmarco Garofoli (Ita, 23)
Ethan Hayter (Gbr, 27)
Filippo Zana (Ita, 27)
Mikel Landa (Esp, 36)
Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra, 25)

UAE Team Emirates-XRG
Tadej Pogačar (Slo, 27)
João Almeida (Por, 28)
Jay Vine (Aus, 30)
Pavel Sivakov (Fra, 29)
Pablo Torres (Esp, 20)
Kevin Vermaerke (USA, 25)
Ivo Oliveira (Por, 29)
Domen Novak (Slo, 31)

Uno-X Mobility
Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor, 26)
Andreas Kron (Den, 28)
Fredrik Dversnes (Nor, 29)
Rasmus Tiller (Nor, 30)
Magnus Cort (Den, 33)
Simon Dalby (Den, 25)
Martin Tjøtta (Nor, 25)
Andreas Leknessund (Nor, 27)

Visma-Lease a Bike
Wout Van Aert (Bel, 31)
Matthew Brennan (Gbr, 21)
Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor, 21)
Ben Tulett (Gbr, 24)
Steven Kruijswijk (Ned, 39)
Christophe Laporte (Fra, 33)
Bruno Armirail (Fra, 32)
Sepp Kuss (USA, 31)

XDS-Astana
Henok Mulubrhan (Eri, 26)
Harold Tejada (Col, 29)
Cristián Rodríguez (Esp, 31)
Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita, 30)
Victor Langellotti (Mco, 31)
Darren Van Bekkum (Ned, 24)
Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz, 26)
Alessandro Romele (Ita, 22)

Cofidis
Bryan Coquard (Fra, 34)
Emanuel Buchmann (Ger, 33)
Alexis Renard (Fra, 27)
Alex Kirsch (Lux, 34)
Sylvain Moniquet (Bel, 28)
Paul Ourselin (Fra, 32)
Louis Rouland (Fra, 23)
Sergio Samitier (Esp, 30)

Burgos Burpellet
Jesús Herrada (Esp, 36)
José Manuel Díaz (Esp, 31)
Sergio Geovani Chumil (Gua, 25)
José Luis Faura (Esp, 25)
Mario Aparicio (Esp, 26)
Sinuhé Fernández (Esp, 26)
Clément Alleno (Fra, 25)
César Macías (Mex, 27)

Kern Pharma
Iván Cobo (Esp, 25)
Urko Berrade (Esp, 31)
Marc Brustenga (Esp, 27)
Iñigo Elosegui (Esp, 27)
Ibon Ruiz (Esp, 30)
Iván Ramiro Sosa (Col, 28)
Diego Uriarte (Esp, 23)
Mats Wenzel (Lux, 23)

Pinarello Q36.5
Xabier Mikel Azparren (Esp, 27)
Walter Calzoni (Ita, 25)
Marcel Camprubí (Esp, 24)
David de la Cruz (Esp, 37)
Eddie Dunbar (Ire, 29)
Tom Gloag (GBr, 24)
David González (Esp, 30)
Milan Vader (Ned, 30)

Tudor Pro Cycling
Marco Brenner (Deu, 23)
Stefan Küng (Che, 32)
Will Barta (USA, 30)
Arthur Kluckers (Lux, 26)
Roland Thalmann (Che, 33)
Larry Warbasse (USA, 36)
Fabian Weiss (Che, 24)
Hannes Wilksch (Deu, 24)

Tadej Pogačar will race the 2026 Vuelta a España, UAE Team Emirates-XRG confirmed on Monday morning, as he seeks to complete the Grand Tour triple.

The 27-year-old, who won his fifth Tour de France title last month, will be on the start line of the Spanish Grand Tour for the first time since 2019, when he finished third. Just three riders have won the Tour and Vuelta in the same year previously: Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Chris Froome.

In a post on social media UAE wrote: "It’s true - he’s coming back. Tadej Pogačar to La Vuelta, confirmed.

"The former podium finisher returns to the Vuelta for the first time in seven years, leading a stellar lineup for our final Grand Tour of the season."

The Slovenian will be joined by João Almeida, Domen Novak, Ivo Oliveira, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke and Jay Vine in Spain.

The race begins on Saturday 22 August in Monaco, before a three weeks which is mostly spent in the south of Spain in Andalusia, with a finale in Granada.

"I’m excited to say I’m going back to La Vuelta. It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience. Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back," Pogačar said on the team's website.

"The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way and the Vuelta will be a big target. The team is strong and we hope to do good things."

Pogačar will be the overwhelming favourite for the race. It will be just the second time in his career that he has raced two Grand Tours in one year, after he won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 2024. He is then expected to target a third World Championships title in Canada after the Vuelta.

Last week, the Vuelta's race director, Javier Guillén, said: "The stages are very suitable for him to put on the show he's known for. And besides, coming to the Vuelta to win it is also a great springboard for him to repeat his victory as world champion in Canada. Therefore, this is the best year for Tadej to come."

Tadej Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG team took home €832,750 (£712,500 / $945,900) in prize money from this year’s Tour de France, more than a third of the entire pot.

A total of €2,300,600 (£1.97m / $2.61m) was distributed among the 23 teams at the race, and awarded based on performance. UAE Team Emirates-XRG earned the most, while Picnic PostNL received the least – €12,770.

A large part of UAE’s winnings came from Pogačar’s overall victory in the general classification, which earned the team €500,000 (£427,800 / $567,900).

The team also received €100,000 for Isaac del Toro’s third place, €20,000 for his victory in the young rider’s classification, and €11,000 for each of their six stage wins – five for Pogačar and one for Del Toro.

As such, UAE ended up hauling 36% of the total prize pot at the race. The next best team in the prize money ranking was Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, who took home €288,160, thanks mostly to the €200,000 Remco Evenepoel claimed for finishing second overall.

The full prize money allocation, officially released by race organiser ASO, is below.

How is the prize money allocated?

Prize money at the Tour de France is weighted heavily on each rider’s placing in the overall standings. The yellow jersey winner receives €500,000 – almost a quarter of the entire prize pot – while second place earns €200,000, third earns €100,000, and the winnings diminish down to €3,800 for 10th place.

There are also large sums on offer for the winners of each of the other three jerseys – green, polka dot and white. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) took home the green jersey as the winner of the points classification, and netted €25,000. The same sum went to Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) as the King of the Mountains.

Carapaz also received €20,000 for winning the overall combativity award. Del Toro’s white jersey victory, as the best young rider, yielded the same amount.

Likewise, the team classification, awarded to the team with the best cumulative time of its top three-riders in the GC, carries a significant pay-out. Lidl-Trek earned €50,000 for winning the competition, while UAE Team Emirates-XRG received €30,000 for second, and Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe €20,000 for third.

Prize money is also awarded after every stage based on each rider’s placing: €11,000 for the stage winner, €5,500 for second place, €2,800 for third, all the way down to €300 for 20th.

Riders also have the chance to win between €200 and €5,000 for being first over certain climbs. Carapaz, for example, was awarded €5,000 for winning the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, the award given to the rider who summits the highest peak of the race, in this case the Col du Galibier on stage 20, which topped out at 2,642m.

Meanwhile, Pogačar earned the same sum for winning the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, having been the first rider over the top of the Col du Tourmalet on stage six.

All prize money is traditionally shared around a team, rather than going to the individual winners.

Tadej Pogačar secured his record-equalling fifth Tour de France title on a custom yellow Colnago Y1Rs after battling Mathieu van der Poel for victory in the final stage in Paris. The Dutchman narrowly held off a stampeding group to win his second stage in a pulsating finale on the Champs-Élysées.

The Slovenian rode a raw carbon version of the Italian brand's aero bike to save weight in the previous 20 stages. But he switched paint to commemorate his third consecutive yellow jersey, which drew him level with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain on five Tour de France wins.

Six of Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates also received yellow bikes, including Brandon McNulty, who abandoned the race. Isaac del Toro rode a white Y1Rs to match the colour of the Young Rider's jersey he won on his way to third overall.

Colnago painted the frames at its facility in Pisa and added a collection of details specific to the 113th edition of the race to make the frames truly one of a kind.

The elevation profile of the route from Barcelona to Paris runs along the seat stays and the names of every team member are written on the top tube.

Each rider's bike has his national flag on the seat tube and the years of Pogačar's Tour de France victories on the head tube are displayed when the handlebars turn.

Pogačar's frame also carries rainbow flags in honour of his road race world title on the top tube, head tube and seat tube where Y1Rs is spelt out in Morse Code.

Colnago says each frame is one of a kind and they are not for sale. It will not make replicas either.

In terms of the components, the full bike is built to the original specification level of the bike Pogačar and his team raced to Paris. As such, the Colnago Y1Rs is built around a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset with Carbon-Ti taking care of the chainrings and derailleur hanger. As the final stages took in just 88.7km/1,000m of climbing over a shortened course, the Slovenian kept his gearing configuration unchanged at 55/40T, 11-34T with 165mm cranks.

To ensure uniformity across the board, the team paired his Enve SES 4.5 Pro wheels with yellow decals, and switched out all the red anodised Carbon-Ti hardware for the golden equivalent. His golden Bikone ceramic bottom bracket remained unchanged owing to its already complementing colour scheme.

Other details included a yellow Wahoo Elment Bolt with matching Elite Leggero Carbon cages and bidons. Pogačar also matched his shoes with yellow laces and wore a yellow Whoop strap.

Mathieu van der Poel won a brilliant 21st stage of the Tour de France on Sunday after escaping with yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar on the final ascent of the Montmartre climb during the Paris final.

In an extraordinarily tense final, Van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took 12 seconds onto the Champs Elysées, leading a large group of chasers, including sprinters and their lead outs.

With their lead down to just five seconds inside the last kilometre, Pogačar was unable to maintain his effort, but Van der Poel forged on, winning the stage by a bike length form his team mate Jasper Philipsen. Green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was third.

With the GC times decided before the first of three longer laps up the Montmartre climb, which remained in the route after its debut last year, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) confirmed his fifth overall win at the Tour de France.

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) was second overall and Pogačar's team mate, Isaac Del surviving a poorly timed mechanical to take third and the best young rider classification.

Pogačar was never lower than fourth on GC, taking the yellow jersey on stage three, ceding it, then never relinquishing it after reclaiming the race lead on stage six. Not only that but he won five stages en route to a record equalling fifth overall win, again unarguably confirming him among the sport's greatest ever.

"It was an amazing day, I'm speechless," Pogačar said. "An incredible day an incredible atmosphere and happy that it's over and that we won for the fifth time. Every victory is very special, and it's seven Tours already and seven times on the podium, and five wins. It's something you wouldn't even write in a story book, it's unbelievable even for me.

"I don't know's a lot of factors," he said when asked how he did it. "The most important I think is that you enjoy what you're doing and you have good people around you, that you trust that they help and that they're there for you when you're on your lowest. Then you can build yourself and chase your dreams. And you have to set your goals always, need to now find a new goal after this," he concluded, though he refused to say what those dreams might be.

How it happened

After Sunday's final stage was shortened, the race was reduced from the scheduled 133km to just 89km, the start moved to the finish location on the Champs Elysées. Indeed, seven laps of the traditional 6.8km circuit comprised the opening of the race, before it headed for three of a longer circuit taking in the Montmartre climb seen in last year's Tour.

This final circuit had been tweaked from last year, when Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) won in the pouring rain, with the ride from the top of the climb to the line extended to 10.4km, the race returning to the Champs Elysées via the Arc de Triomphe. This changed the dynamic of the stage, the sprinters having a greater opportunity to get back on.

Without the traditional run into the city meant we saw none of the Champagne drinking celebratory photo opportunities, instead we got a couple of parade laps. First the jersey winners on the front, then those same riders and their teams and a series of ad hoc groups, the Danes, a couple of teams, the podium, no one really seemed to know when to start racing.

Before they did, organisers announced the general classification times would be decided before the first of the three Montmartre laps, with 41km remaining. Eventually Pogačar's UAE team gradually lifted the pace, before the attacks came as the third lap started, 75km to go.

After an aggressive lap, Baptiste Viestroffer (Lotto-Intermarché) was a few seconds off the front, and though the chase behind never let up, he held on until just after the intermediate sprint at the end of the fifth circuit.

On the approach to the start of the seventh lap Xabier Azparren (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Thibaut Guernalec (TotalEnergies) escaped, the pair building a lead of 50 seconds as they left the Champs Elysées for the first Montmartre lap. However, as they did so, the pace was up in the peloton.

A stretched peloton caught Guernalec and Azparren as they reached the top of the climb, green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) leading onto the descent, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Pogačar on his wheel.

A group of nine headed back to the Arc de Triomphe where they would rejoin the Champs Elysées, but much of the peloton had reformed by the time they got there. Despite the pace being knocked off at the front, a group which had detached off the back and included Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5) were unable to get back on and they began the penultimate 16km lap a minute down.

Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe led towards the base of the climb, but it was Tim Wellens who was first wheel as the road edged upwards, working for Pogačar, who made his move half way up the climb.

At the top only Van der Poel was on his wheel, though Evenepoel caught them soon after the top, while Pedersen got back on before they reached the Arc de Triomphe. However, with Decathlon-CMA CGM leading the chase the four leaders were unable to consolidate their advantage and were caught at the farthest end of the Champs Eylsées. Here UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Lidl-Trek took control of the race, leading it across the line for the final lap.

Soudal Quick-Step made the pace as the climb approached for the final time, but the final ascent was less explosive, at least to start. Fred Wright (Pinarello-Q36.5) attacked early on, though the British champion was summarily dropped when Van der Poel made his move half way up, once again taking only Pogačar with him.

Though they took turns to maintain their lead, a group of six, including two from Visma-Lease a Bike were handful of seconds back, with a bigger group chasing them. By the time the two leaders reached the Champs Elysées with five kilometres to go, their advantage was steady at 12 seconds.

However, as they entered the final two kilometres, it was all but over and the tensest of finals was in store.

RESULTS

Tour de France 2026, STAGE 21, PARIS > PARIS (88.7KM)

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech, in 1:58:49
2. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech, at same time
3. Made Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek,
4. Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana,
5. Ben Healey (Ire) EF Education-EasyPost,
6. Matej Mohorič (Slo) Bahrain Victorious,
7. Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudo Pro Cycling,
8. Anthony Turgis (Fra) TotalEnergies,
9. Milan Fretin (Fra) Cofidis,
10. Clément Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United, all at same time

FINAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 73:56:26
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +6:26
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +9:42
4. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +11:56
5. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain-Victorious, +13:02
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+14:59
7. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +17:48
8. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +20:00
9. Tom Pidcock (Gbr), Pinarello Q36.5, +29:28
10. Jordan Jegat (Fra) TotalEnergies, +33:21

Adam Yates made a Lazarus-like recovery to get into a breakaway on stage 19 of the Tour de France, and launch Tadej Pogačar to victory on Alpe d'Huez.

At the end of stage 18, it seemed very much as though Yates’ entire race was done. Clearly unwell, UAE Emirates-XRG’s British rider had survived the stage but he looked, frankly, awful.

Less than 24 hours later, at the end of a brutal 127km mountain stage, he popped up to play a stage-changing lead-out role for Pogačar, who became only the second rider ever to win on Alpe d’Huez in the yellow jersey, and he set a new record on the climb while he was at it.

Clearly exhausted, but looking like a different man compared to the way he presented the previous day in Orcières-Merlette, Yates even managed a brief laugh when asked immediately after the finish if he felt reborn.

"Reborn is a strong word," he said. "I'm still suffering a lot. It's quite obvious we have had some illness in the team, and the last few days have been really difficult. Even just to finish the stage has been really hard. We knew we would get through it, but it takes time."

From the bottom of the infamous hors catégorie climb, making its first appearance at the Tour since 2022, the UAE Emirates-XRG team knew Pogačar had several minutes to make up on the leaders, and that success would depend on who they had in the break.

Despite the fact that he was still feeling the effects of his illness, Yates stood up, although he admits there was some serendipity in how things panned out.

“I didn't mean to be in the break actually, I was up near the front marking some moves, and suddenly there was a space,” he admitted to reporters. “Yeah, it was good - I got a bit of a head-start on the climb, and then the guys came from behind and you know what happened.

“I would have liked [the pull for Pogačar] to have been a little bit longer, but like I say, I've been struggling for the last few days with illness, and just to be back in this kind of shape, and to be back at the pointy end of a race is nice.

“When you're sick the only thing you pray for is health, I read the other day, and that's true. It's good to be back, and hopefully I'll be even better tomorrow.”

One thing is clear, regardless of whether there has been sickness in the squad, a mere malady isn't likely to stop Pogačar's relentless pursuit of his fifth Tour de France title.

Tadej Pogačar was more than three years away from being born the last time someone rode up Alpe d'Huez faster than him.

On stage 10 of the 1995 Tour de France, the controversial Marco Pantani flew up the Alpe d'Huez in 36:40. 31 years later, on stage 19 of the 2026 Tour, UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Pogačar rode the famous climb in a reported 35:26, 1:14 faster than Pantani's time.

Not that it means much to the Slovenian: "I actually don't know what the time of Pantani was to be honest. I'm staying off the internet a lot in the last weeks, and I don't take too much into that," the world champion said after his latest win.

"I heard that I broke the record, so I'm happy. I just wanted to do a good race and win today. For the guys. Also, I don't know how old, 30 years old record, finally broken, is good for us."

The victory was Pogačar's fifth of the race, his 26th stage win overall, and means he now has a lead of more than seven minutes over second-placed Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

It was dominant performance, as he attacked on the final climb of the day from the GC group, 12km from the top, and picked off riders from the break one by one. From a deficit of 3:25 at the bottom, he overhauled them all. The last survivors were Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), with Carapaz and Martinez finally dispatched with 800m to go.

The Alpe, the record, this is supposed to be special. Asked how much this result meant to him, Pogačar answered: "I would say as much as any other win, but now that every single journalist says how big this win is, maybe I'll start to realise how big this win is. Maybe I'll appreciate it once it settles down."

It meant a lot to his team, however, with his sports directors Joxean Fernández Matxín and Andrej Hauptman overjoyed that their charge had done it again, with the former in tears at the finish.

"I didn't know..." Pogačar started. "I don't know why they got so emotional as men. I don't cry often, I guess it meant a lot to the team. Also, the way we are riding as a team, not just the victory, the team spirit and all, it cannot be better, even with the rough days of the last days, the team spirit cannot be better than when we win. It's a reward for all, and then emotions come to the surface."

Those "rough days" for UAE saw Brandon McNulty abandon, and both Adam Yates and Tim Wellens fall ill to a stomach bug.

"Adam was really bad on the TT day, he was white like a wall," the yellow jersey explained. "Today I was so happy when I caught him on the last climb to ride behind him. Felix [Großschartner] had to do all the work in the last few days because Tim was also feeling sick, Brandon also went home. Guys don't feel like themselves, but today we stepped up again.

"They believed we could win and it was just nice to seal the deal today after a couple of rough days for the guys. This one is for the teammates."

Pogačar now leads the 2026 Tour by 7:11, which would be the biggest winning margin of any of his five Tours if the race ends with him on top, as it is likely to. That gap is helped by the absence of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), but it proves his utter supremacy.

On French TV, they compared Pogačar to Pac-Man, a yellow character gobbling up all before him. In this Tour, however, there are no ghosts to threaten the main character; he looks unbeatable. Even illness within his team hasn't held him back.

He is a man used to gobbling up riders ahead of him. Asked what it's like to overtake rivals, he said: "Some riders, you can see that they're already taking it a bit easier to go to the top, and maybe with some riders we have good energy. With [Harold] Tejada we smiled at each other, then some riders... it's a good feeling when you pass somebody. Some riders stick on the wheel to see how fast I am going, and it's a compliment a little bit.

"It gives a lot of motivation when you catch riders, and today there was a lot of riders in front so it was good to go and catch them one by one. Chapeau to everyone in the front."

It feels like a given now that Pogačar was going to gobble them all up, including Kuss, Carapaz and Martinez, but it wasn't always so, and Pogačar himself wasn't certain.

"The moment I started to believe was when I heard on the radio that they started to attack each other," he explained. "Then I knew that it was on and off. Then 5km to go... I don't know how much the gap was, if I kept this pace maybe I catch them just before this right turn. When it was the barriers, I could see them finally, and I saw they were looking at each other.

"I knew I could catch them, but also somebody was saving a bit, so I was quite in doubt. Then Sepp attacked, and I was like, 'Fuck they're gone again, I will not be able to catch'. That was the last resource of Sepp. Then Lenny was incredible, he was on my wheel, I didn't think I was able to catch him. I was barely able to catch Richard. We were all at the limit. I tried not to come to a three man sprint.

"I accelerated with 1km to go, 800m to go, I gave it all. It was one of the hardest wins for me, and chapeau to all the breakaway riders, they were smart today with a lot of teammates in front. Today was a battle of teams, and in the end we could pull it off."

Despite a team under the weather, held back by illness, Pogačar the Pac-Man couldn't be stopped. Pantani's record gone, the Tour de France overall victory record of five in touching distance, what's next? If Merckx was the cannibal, Pogačar is just as voracious.

First, Brandon McNulty abandoned, 24km from the finish of stage 18. He couldn’t continue anymore.

An hour later, Tadej Pogačar, dressed in his yellow jersey but curiously in black shorts (you can join the dots), crossed the line in the GC group, flanked by Isaac Del Toro. UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s main men were fine. But for the first time all Tour de France, they had no support around them.

Felix Großschartner was next from the UAE team to be welcomed by his team's soingeurs at Orcières-Merlette, but he stopped at the top and turned straight around. He wasn’t going to answer questions about the stomach virus in the camp.

Ten minutes later, Nils Politt arrived. He looked fine but neither was he in the game for fluffy comments: he was going to be honest and realistic – UAE have a problem.

“We have to survive the next two days now,” Politt said. “It is a major setback for us as a team,” he said of McNulty’s exit. Pogačar echoed those sentiments: “We will miss him the next two days, obviously.”

Eleven minutes afterwards, Adam Yates – struck down by the bug and vomiting since Tuesday – finished the stage, but hunched over his handlebars, he was pale-skinned and exhausted. He was not in a good way. Pogačar expressed confidence yesterday and today that Yates would recover in time for the high Alps – but on this evidence, Yates is regressing, not progressing.

"We hope Adam felt much better today as well. He fell behind simply to save energy for the next two days," Politt added. That might be true, but if this was Yates recovering, he’s going to need a miracle to be a useful aid to Pogačar on the back-to-back ascents of Alpe d’Huez.

Like Großschartner, Yates refused to speak. A warm coat was put on him for the 15km ride back down to the team’s bus. He would have freewheeled down from Orcières-Merlette, but it was more time spent on the bike when his body needs complete rest.

Florian Vermeersch arrived four minutes after Yates, and though he looked better than his teammate and also spoke briefly to the assembled media curious as to the state of the team’s health, his skinsuit was also stained by salt marks.

He too headed down the mountain, and he would have passed Tim Wellens who only just made the time cut by two minutes. The Belgian, like Yates, is similarly run down with the same stomach virus.

Usually, UAE team boss Mauro Gianetti is at the finish line of every stage, ready to greet his riders. This time he wasn’t. In his press conference with the written media, Pogačar only had time for three questions – there are normally five – and one of them he answered in one-word; these days Pogačar tends to give lengthy answers.

Those two observations – Gianetti’s absence and Pogačar’s few words – may mean nothing, but the struggles, body language and admissions of illness from his teammates suggest that multiple UAE riders are being afflicted by the stomach virus. At the worst possible time.

With just three days to go, Pogačar has an advantage of 4:32 in the GC to Remco Evenepoel, a lead that was presumed unassailable. But all of a sudden, victory looks a tiny bit less sure. Illness is the one great uncontrollables that not even UAE’s money can control.

Will a third week virus – either directly by Pogačar falling ill or indirectly due to his sick teammates being unable to support him – so cruelly deny the Slovenian? Evenepoel and Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe can sense an opportunity.

“Thank goodness Isaac and Tadej are feeling good, and so are Felix and I,” Politt added.

“We are trying to separate ourselves from the team as much as possible in order to simply minimise the risk. Many riders are ill in the bunch – you hear from every team that there’s something going around. That is simply part of three weeks. I’ve never got to the end of a Tour without sick hands.”

Vermeersch said he’s struggling with an injury rather than illness – “It’s not a problem for me,” he stated – but the same cannot be said for his Belgian compatriot Wellens. “Tim is really out of sorts,” Vermeersch admitted.

Ever the optimist, however, Pogačar turned spin doctor: yes, UAE are affected, but so too is everyone else. “I think we can manage it,” he said. “It’s the third week. All teams are suffering a bit.

“Bodies are everywhere on a stage like today. We will survive the stage tomorrow, try to come to Alpe d’Huez and see what we can do. We will keep fighting and I believe we can do it.”

The road will tell.

Tucked away in the southern French Alps, the ski resort of Orcières-Merlette doesn't enjoy the renown of fabled summits like Mont Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez, or the Col du Galibier. Nevertheless the eyes of the cycling world will be directed towards it today, with Tadej Pogačar and his Tour de France rivals finishing stage 18 on its category-one slopes.

The personal goals of each rider today will be many and varied, from winning at the top to simply making the time cut. And while you might imagine Pogačar has little left to prove in this year's Tour de France, he has unfinished business at today's destination. Last time the race finished here was his Tour debut in 2020, on stage four. The young pretender was beaten to the punch by countryman, rival and old-hand Primož Roglič, riding then for Jumbo-Visma.

Roglič, who was on his way to coming as close as he ever had to winning cycling's biggest prize two-and-a-half weeks later, sprinted home at the front of a 20-strong elite front group, with Pogačar latching on to finish second – the dynamic riding style we've all become so used to already plain to see.

As you might remember, being during Covid-era, that stage took place in September in front of a restrained though still surprisingly big crowd.

Still only 21 then, Pogačar ultimately had the last laugh in that race, taking his debut Tour victory on the penultimate day's time trial at Planche de Belles Filles. But Pogi likes to win, and at Orcières-Merlettes he has yet to do that. It would be no surprise to see him correct the record today.

The 185.3km stage begins where yesterday left off with a Jasper Philipsen win in Voiron, well to the north-west. From here the peloton makes its way over the numerous climbs that fringe the Alps, starting with the the cat-one Côte d'Engins, which, at 11.5km, 5.4% and topping out at 854 metres, must surely be on the borders of the Côte / Col definition. The riders crest this at just 35km, and it's followed mid-stage by the Côte Monteyard (cat-two) and the Côte des Terrasses (cat-three), which comes just before the intermediate sprint.

This takes place at the ominously named Corps, and both Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will do all they can to get the points here and boost them at the top of the green jersey classification.

From here the road trends upwards for the next 55km or so, all the way to Orcières-Merlettes, although there is a cat-three to deal with at 166km, the Côte de Saint-Leger-les-Mélèzes. The final climb proper starts at around seven kilometres to go, with a shallower first kilometre segueing to a gradient of around 7% all the way to the line.

Beaten by Remco Evenepoel twice in two successive Tour de France stages – is this a crisis for Tadej Pogačar?

Of course not, we’re being flippant, but Evenepoel’s win on Plateau de Solaison and then his dominant victory in stage 16’s time trial in Thonon-les-Bains was a reminder that Pogačar doesn’t quite have everything his own way as he marches towards a record-equalling fifth title.

And, as you’d expect, the Slovenian superstar said as much himself. That despite the world champion still boasting an advantage of 4:32 over Evenepoel in the GC after the TT; his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro sits 6:51 adrift.

“He’s a contender since day one,” Pogačar said of Evenepoel after the time trial in which he finished as the runner-up, 28 seconds short of Evenepoel’s winning time. “I had good legs today, but he’s just a legend in the race against the clock. He’s one of the greatest, no doubt, and there’s no shame coming behind Remco.

“In the end I have to be happy with the result. Obviously I wanted to go for the win today and the legs were there, but he was just faster.

“I really wanted to make the best out of it and try to win. I was really motivated, I had good legs, but at the end of the day, he’s the best ever in time trialling.”

The following two stages are likely to end in a win for the breakaway, before the peloton finish atop Alpe d’Huez on stages 19 and 20. Consecutive defeats by Evenepoel has fuelled Pogačar’s desire to add to his tally of four stage wins and counting in this year’s race.

“It gives me a bit more fire for the next days to get another win,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the next days in the Alps.”

Speaking about the iconic Alpe d’Huez, Pogačar said that was anticipating a “crazy” atmosphere, with hundreds of thousands of fans expected on the mountain.

“I am kinda happy that Urška Žigart [his partner and AG Insurance-Soudal rider] isn’t coming with my car like last time in 2022,” Pogačar laughed. “I remember how dirty the car was with all of the people touching it and shaking the car. I’m glad I don't have my personal car up there this time.

“With the two hardest stages finishing in Alpe d’Huez, I’m expecting it to be insane. At the Markstein [on stage 14] I had never seen crowds like it, but Alpe d’Huez there will be even more. It’s going to be fantastic. I hope nothing goes wrong and it’s going to be a great end to the Tour.”

The body responsible for anti-doping in cycling has defended the nighttime tests carried out on Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, saying they are part of "effective testing".

On Sunday morning, ahead of stage 15, the pair were awoken – Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG at 5am and Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike at 2am – by testers from the International Testing Agency (ITA).

The UCI's anti-doping rules, Article 5.2, reads: "Unless the rider has identified a sixty minute testing window between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or has otherwise consented to testing during that period, the UCI will not test a rider during that period unless it has a serious and specific suspicion that the Rider may be engaged in doping."

A spokesperson for the ITA confirmed the unusual tests on Sunday evening, and defended the decision to test in the night, after it was criticised by Pogačar, Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Pogačar said he accepted the tests if they were necessary.

Evenepoel, the winner of stage 15, said: "It's pretty disrespectful. To be honest, if I had it, I would send my team to wake them up to feel how it is. It's something inhuman, it's something that we should not accept as athletes."

Vingegaard crashed out of the stage following the nighttime test, which Pogačar suggested was partly caused by the disturbed rest. He said: "In my interview with France TV, it got me thinking that it could be also like a small percentage why he crashed because he probably didn't sleep good today."

A spokesperson for the ITA said: "The International Testing Agency (ITA) has been entrusted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to implement its anti-doping program in an independent manner since 2021. The ITA can confirm that anti-doping controls were conducted overnight involving riders participating in the Tour de France.

"The ITA is conscious that night-time testing may be disruptive to riders' rest and recovery. Due consideration has therefore been given to minimise as much as possible the impact testing activities have on riders.

"However, the ITA, on behalf of the UCI, has the responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the cycling anti-doping program and the integrity of cycling races. As such, effective testing must, in limited and justified circumstances, be capable to occur outside standard daytime hours.

"All testing activities conducted at the Tour de France and at any other international events, including decisions as to the specific timing of such tests, are carried out in accordance with the ITA’s testing strategy and subject to the safeguards established under the World Anti-Doping Code, the UCI Anti-Doping Rules and French law, with due consideration for riders’ welfare, equity and fundamental rights."

Tadej Pogačar has said he "totally accepts" anti-doping regulations if they are "necessary to prove that we are riding clean" after he was tested in the early hours before stage 15 of the Tour de France.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and yellow jersey said that this year has been "very strange" with testing, culminating in he and second-placed Jonas Vingegaard being woken up for tests on Sunday morning, mid-race.

The pair appeared to be the only riders tested in such an unusual way. The UCI's anti-doping rules, Article 5.2 reads: "The UCI may require any Rider over whom it has Testing authority, who has not retired, including Riders serving a period of Ineligibility, to provide a Sample at any time and at any place."

An additional comment says: "Unless the rider has identified a sixty minute testing window between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or has otherwise consented to testing during that period, the UCI will not test a rider during that period unless it has a serious and specific suspicion that the Rider may be engaged in doping."

A spokesperson for the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed the tests. The race leader is subject to a test every day post-stage, along with a targeted selection of other riders; they can also face other tests through the Tour.

"They were really nice today, the doctor who woke me up," Pogačar said in his post-stage press conference. "They were nice, they apologised, it's not their fault that they come. I asked because I thought the window was 11pm to 6am they cannot come, but they replied to me that it's a night control. I don't argue, I hope I will sleep after. I couldn't. It's a little bit strange, but I accept it if this is necessary to prove that we are riding clean, then I totally accept it. I commit to it.

"But it's shit when you sleep for four hours in the middle of a three week Tour. If Jonas, if he was tested at 2am in the morning, he probably slept less than four hours, or his deep sleep was ruined. It ruined the night. If this is what we have to do, then we do it."

Stage winner Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) did not sound a conciliatory tone: "It's pretty disrespectful. To be honest, I had it, I would send my team to wake them up to feel how it is. It's something inhuman, it's something that we should not accept as athletes. Everyone knows sleep is the only recovery ,moment we have, and if that gets disturbed. This is the hardest and the biggest race in the world. This is a shame that this happened, and I hope it doesn't happen any more in the future."

Pogačar, asked if he knew why he and Vingegaard had been targeted, said: "This year, it has been very strange with the testing in general. If I can sit here two more minutes I can explain. It has been going on strange with controlling, they're doing different a little bit different testing than usual. They're doing everything. They're trying to do different things.

"For example, I counted how many controls I had at home from 1 January to end of Classics, when I was at home I was already waking up at 6am every morning to check the doorbell if someone was ringing because I had so many visits. I didn't want to go for dinner or whatever or to supermarket because they were coming at random hours, not in our slot."

The Slovenian also spoke of blood tests happening after races, including after Strade Bianche, which he won. A modification to the UCI's testing and investigations regulations from last month reads: "If a blood sample is to be collected in a serum tube from the rider, sample collection shall not occur within sixty minutes of the rider’s training, participation in competition or other similar physical activity."

"Then came also Strade Bianche, I had a blood test after the race," Pogačar said. "This was really strange for me, because normally if there's a blood test, the rule was before April 2026 that after you have a heat, sauna, hard session, there was a two hour window that you cannot test the blood. After Strade I did the press conference, I came to the control station one hour and a half after the finish and there were still six riders in front of me. All six riders did a blood test as well, so we needed to wait one hour. After one hour from the race they started to test. I think this was out of the rules, because Strade was before April.

"From April on they changed the rule that we can be tested one hour after the stage. It happened here at the Tour, they tested after some stages, the blood. Now, today happened."

Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard were both awoken in the middle of the night ahead of stage 15 of the Tour de France by anti-doping testers, it was revealed on Sunday.

The pair, first and second on general classification at the race, had their sleep interrupted by officials from the International Testing Agency (ITA) overnight between the mountain stages in the Vosges on stage 14, and the Jura and Alps on stage 15, it was revealed by Le Parisien.

The news was later confirmed by their teams, UAE Team Emirates-XRG for Pogačar and Visma-Lease a Bike for Vingegaard and the pair talked about it with Eurosport at the start of stage 15 in Champagnole. The pair appear to be the only riders tested in such a way.

A spokesperson for the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed the tests. The race leader is subject to a test every day post-stage, along with a targeted selection of other riders; they can also face other tests through the Tour.

Since 2016, it has been permitted for anti-doping tests to take place between 11pm and 6am, but it remains very unusual. Pre-race, the ITA said it would aim to conduct around 600 tests during the Tour.

"I got four hours of sleep today," Pogačar said. "They were [at my door at] 5am in the morning. I always sleep late, it was a big shock for me to get four hours of sleep.

"I had a cool, long morning because I couldn't fall back to sleep. I was chilling, listening to some old Eminem hits, and making coffees, so I'm overcaffeinated and ready to start the day. It was definitely not nice to be woken up in the middle of sweet dreams."

Asked about the post-stage testing he undergoes daily the yellow jersey-wearer added: "There's a chaperone following you, and then you go to control, you do that. They also come randomly in the mornings through the Tour, and today they chose night time. I feel sorry for the guys that are doing the control, I can imagine that some riders get upset and angry with them, but it's not their fault. It's the bosses. The guys doing the control are just doing their jobs."

Vingegaard said, who was also tested overnight, said: "I guess the ITA didn't allow me to sleep much. I was sleeping very well but then somebody knocked on my door at 2am which was a surprise to me.

"Of course it's good that they test, but when it's affecting performance and your sleep, I don't think it's so good. Hopefully, I'm not the only one. It has to be equal for everybody I think. It's not the nicest at 2am.

"I think it took me about 40 minutes before I was back in my room, so it was not the best night. I still feel ok, but just not the best night. I cannot change it, but that's part of it I guess."

Three years ago, Tadej Pogačar won atop Le Markstein at the end of a brutal Tour de France for him. The stage 20 win, sprinting to the line ahead of yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard, was an act of defiance, two fingers up to those who thought the age of Pogačar was already over, a reminder of his power. He lost that Tour by well over seven minutes, but his 11th stage win set the scene for what to come.

Three years on, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider won atop Le Markstein again, this time at the end of stage 14. This time, there was no loss of face to make up for, or scores to be settled. No, this time in the Vosges, Pogačar proved again that he will win this race, without misfortune getting in the way. For the third year running, it looks like the Slovenian will vanquish Vingegaard by minutes.

This was Pogačar's 25th Tour stage win, a number no other active rider will even get close to, his fourth of this race, and his 125th career victory on his 500th day of racing as a pro. That's a win every four days.

He now leads the race by 4:30 over Vingegaard, with seven stages still to go. His margin of victory last year was 4:24. He appeared to enjoy stage 14, which he described in his TV interview as a "perfect day", partly because of the hordes of enthusiastic fans that were on the Col du Haag, creating a one rider-wide corridor, perfect for the world champion.

His decisive attack came 1.6km from the top of the bike path climb, 7.5km to the finish on top of Le Markstein, but had been set up by his team controlling the day, pulling the break back in order for the Pogačar attack to happen. It might feel predictable, but the power is still impressive.

"We knew that today was one of the hardest mountain stages, but I think we benefit in these stages with the team that we have," Pogačar said in his post-race press conference. "We grabbed the opportunity, we grabbed the chance, we made it hard. Also the breakaway made it hard for us in the front. A lot of guys felt good and showed a big fight, that's how I saw it. Big respect to all the rivals, they did a really strong fight.

"I couldn't waste good legs today, I wanted to finish it off and finish off the work of the team. Also I enjoyed the atmosphere of the Markstein. It was one of the craziest atmospheres of my career."

The jeopardy does appear to have been sucked from this race – at least in the battle for yellow, anyway. For a second day running, Pogačar was asked what he would say about his rivals who are now racing for second. Interestingly, he recalled the Tour where he last raced up Le Markstein.

"If you remember, in 2023, I lost two minutes to Jonas in the time trial [in Combloux on stage 16] and the next day I lost eight minutes [to Courchevel on stage 17, where he lost over five minutes to Vingegaard], I think it's quite obvious that anything can change in one day," he said.

Of course, anything could happen, but a bad day does not feel around the corner, especially not after yet another dominant performance.

"I think for now I'm more confident," Pogačar said. "I must admit that yesterday and two days ago, when [Lidl-]Trek were going full gas, I was not feeling the greatest. Then yesterday I felt a bit better, and it was these kind of days you have to get through.

"Today in the morning I spoke with Urška [Žigart, his partner] and she gave me a moral boost also. I was feeling great today, after today, so far, this Tour has been amazing for me. Tomorrow's stage I will be confident, then it's rest day and a time trial, and I have to do it like a one-day race and do the best I can do because I've put a lot of effort into in. Then we'll see for Alpe d'Huez what is left in the tank."

By then, it's plausible that Pogačar will have won another stage or two, so it won't particularly matter what he has left in the tank, although he will hope to have a better final week than last year, when he suffered through it, with a knee issue, and also seemingly close to burnout.

“I don't like to repeat myself too much, but last year the last week was not the greatest for me,” he explained. "I managed it with my grinta to survive really good. With the knee pain, and also just... This year, we still haven't finished the second week. I'm in the same morale. Last year I had good morale until La Plagne when I was freezing in this room after the stage. My knee was painful, and I didn't know, I was just happy it was over more or less. Maybe I was a bit grumpy in the media zone. I would say that morale is good this year, and was good last year also.”

One reason Pogačar has been able to look so dominant is the lack of a concerted challenge from Vingegaard. Perhaps because of his efforts in winning the Giro d’Italia, he is a level below, and was beaten to the line by both Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

“I think honestly, he's missing a little bit compared to the last few Tours, but maybe the bigger, longer mountains like Alpe d'Huez he will get this extra boost,” the yellow jersey said. “Maybe he will drop me there, you never know. He's there, he's really strong, and he knows this, but he also knows that he misses a bit of a punch maybe. A bit more grinta. It's a small percentage, and he's there with me. I would not count him out for the next day, tomorrow is a good day for him also, and both Alpe d'Huez stages.”

Pogačar is winning comprehensively, but that doesn’t mean he’s not hurting. Asked why he was smiling on the Col du Haag, he replied: “It's my suffer face. Some people might think I'm smiling. When you suffer, but in a good way. That's maybe why it seems a bit more like a smile.”

Unfortunately for his rivals, the Slovenian is rather good at suffering. Three years on from his last defeat at the Tour, the end of his victorious era feels further away from ever.

Approaching the finish of stage 14, Tadej Pogačar glanced over his shoulder, turned off his bike computer and, after crossing the line, held up one arm, four fingers in the air.

The World Champion has claimed his fourth victory in this year’s Tour de France with another solo win at Le Markstein, in the Vosges. It is his 125^th career stage win and his 25^th in the Tour, bringing him ever closer to Mark Cavendish’s record of 35.

Starting in a wet Mulhouse, close to the Swiss and German borders, today was the first of two back-to-back mountain stages, with 3,800 metres of elevation gain across 155.3 kilometres.

Pogačar’s winning move came on the final Col du Haag, which made its first appearance in the Tour de France this year. It did not disappoint. Towards the top of the 11.2-kilometre climb, the road became a narrow bike path and the crowds became thicker, lining the sides of the road, standing on the verge – and even climbing trees to get a glimpse of the race.

Although UAE Team Emirates-XRG had been on the front all day, it was Decathlon CMA CGM and Visma-Lease a Bike who turned the screw on the final climb, distancing riders like Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q.36 Pro Cycling Team), who started the day at fourth on GC. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) looked good on the front, his relentless pace causing Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) to lose contact.

But with 1.6 kilometres to the top —7.5 to the finish line— Pogačar launched his attack, immediately opening a gap on the double-digit gradients. Like on the Tourmalet on stage six, or at Le Lioran on stage 10, it was Vingegaard who was first to follow.

To the delight of French fans, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) clearly had good legs, shaking off the other GC contenders to catch Vingegaard just before the summit. The two worked together to minimise their losses, with Isaac del Toro —despite appearing to suffer— clawing his way back and sitting on. On the flat finish, it was del Toro who would snatch second place ahead of Seixas in third, and Vingegaard in fourth. Evenepoel recouped his losses on the climb to finish fifth.

Rewarded for his efforts, Seixas has moved up two places on GC, and taken the young rider’s jersey from Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek). Pogačar has increased his lead on Vingegaard to 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

“I must say thanks to all the fans that came to the side of the road. It was something unforgettable,” said Pogačar after the stage. “To see all the cars on the hills and on top of the mountain - I’ve never seen something like this.”

“It was a perfect day. We marked this stage since the beginning,” he continued. “I knew that Isaac [del Toro] is maybe not 100%, so I was waiting for the last two kilometres to see if there was going to be any movement. Decathlon and then Jonas did a really hard pace on the climb, and one by one there were guys dropping. I felt good, so I said I would try the last two kilometres, [which] I know very well…I have good memories from here and today, as a team, we have another one.”

Vingegaard, meanwhile, told Visma-Lease a Bike that today was “not a bad stage. I got some answers about myself, at least. My legs are where I want them to be, so I’m happy.”

Earlier in the day, there had also been some action in the hotly contested green jersey competition, with an early intermediate sprint offering valuable points. Thanks to a lead-out from his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammates, Jasper Philipsen claimed 25, ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Max Kanter (XDS-Astana). Pedersen remains in green by a margin of just 36 points.

Pogačar’s victory also disguises some valiant breakaway efforts. After the first climb of the day, the 21.6-kilometre Grand Ballon, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Einer Rubio (Movistar Team), and Uno-X Mobility brothers Tobias and Anders Halland Johannessen found themselves alone ahead of the peloton.

By the foot of the Col du Haag, they had a lead of just one-and-a-half minutes. As the seconds fell, Tobias Johannessen and Carapaz decided to roll the dice one final time with a gutsy attack. Carapaz went solo, with Johannessen eventually catching back on. But today, unfortunately, was not their day. The pair finished eight and ninth respectively.

Tomorrow promises another GC battle in the mountains, but Pogačar was reluctant to give too much away about his plans. “I don’t want to explain it too much, but tomorrow will be a hard day for us,” he said. “We will be ready to fight, and to see what’s going to happen. There are a lot of options.”

TOUR DE FRANCE 2026, STAGE 14: MULHOUSE > LE MARKSTEIN (155.3KM)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:00:07
2. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +38s
3. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, s.t.
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +44s
5. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, +48s
6. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, +50s
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, s.t.
8. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +1:18
9. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +1:40
10. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 14

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 51:18:28
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:30
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +5:04
4. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +5:19
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +5:22
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +5:44
7. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +5:50
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+7:35
8. Tom Pidcock (Gbr), Pinarello Q36.5, +7:59
10. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +8:25

Barring serious incident, illness or injury, it's incredibly likely Tadej Pogačar will win the 2026 Tour de France. There might be as many six more general classification days to come in eight stages, but with the form he has shown so far in this race, the strongest team here, and crucially 3:36 over second place, it feels rather inevitable.

If he achieves this, then the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider will join an exclusive club of five-time Tour winners, equalling the record, alongside the greats: Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin. Five five-time winners, it has a ring to it.

There is one issue with this Lance Armstrong. The American 'won' seven titles between 1999 and 2005, titles that were later stripped from him after he was found to have used performance enhancing drugs through his career. Officially, no-one won those Tours, due to the whole era being tainted with doping.

Therefore, officially, Pogačar will equal the record if he wins a fifth Tour in just over a week. However, unofficially, will he have broken the record? Armstrong, for his part, used his podcast The Move this week to press his case, which has never claimed to be an impartial space. "He knows damn well what the real record is," the Texan said, suggesting that Pogačar would go on to try and win seven.

In his post-stage 13 press conference, the Slovenian addressed the question: "I got this question in the morning. I don't know, I can't say anything. I don't go for records, I just want to finish this Tour with yellow in Paris, that's the main focus."

He has said he doesn't care about records before, but this is the same rider who is clearly trying to win Paris-Roubaix so he has won all five Monuments, who won Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse this year on his quest to win every major stage race, who told L'Équipe that he wants to be the best in history. Why would he be doing all of this if he didn't care about records?

The Armstrong argument feels like a sideshow, particularly for a cyclist who was only six when he 'won' his last Tour, but it is interesting that Pogačar feels he "can't say anything" on the topic. Perhaps he will only be sated once he does break the unofficial as well as the official record; perhaps it doesn't matter which record he's going for, if this crushing form lasts.

On that crushing form, the world champion seemed slightly irked when asked what he would say to his rivals who feel like they are now racing for second place.

"I don't know how to respond to that," Pogačar said. "If you go for only second place, then it's a pity. In a Grand Tour, when you have a strong team around you, there are so many possibilities, you have to hope for the best. That's my opinion."

It is difficult to hope for the best when the race appears to be heading in only one direction. The weekend could be key, but it is difficult to see a scenario where he hasn't extended his lead by Sunday evening.

"It could be a day for a lot of attacks, it's a playground for that," he said of Saturday's stage 14, with its three first-category climbs. "I hope we can set a good pace that's good for us and not easy for the others. We will see.

"Tomorrow will be a tough day, and we have to be prepared for any attacks from the contenders. It will be good to watch on the TV like every day."

Jonas Vingegaard finished seventh on stage 10 of the 2026 Tour de France, 44 seconds behind Tadej Pogačar, who won in Le Lioran. The former now lies 3:36 behind the latter overall, in second place. The Dane also lost at least 10 seconds to Remco Evenepoel, Paul Seixas and Florian Lipowitz, and a few to Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose.

This was not a good day for Visma-Lease a Bike's Vingegaard. It might not have been the kind of stage that perfectly suited him, with a series of short, sharp climbs in the Massif Central, but he already could not afford to be losing more time at this year's Tour, and he did. It was telling that defeat came two years on from when Vingegaard beat Pogačar on the same finish line. Then, the race felt alive. Now, it feels almost over.

And yet, the message that Visma-Lease a Bike gave out post-stage was not one of despondency, or shifting goals – it was an attempt to be positive, to look for the light. Of course, they could hardly declare the race over, or show too much weakness, but on a day when Pogačar crushed all again, the message felt out of place.

To the viewers, to the fans, the reality feels clear: barring accident, injury or illness, Pogačar will win this Tour de France. To pretend otherwise feels fantastical. But Visma-Lease a Bike are refusing to totally surrender hope.

"In the end, I think it was not too bad of a day," Vingegaard said post-stage. "Shorter climbs like this never suit me the best, so obviously, I had to fight today. To come away with a smaller loss like this is something I can be happy with."

He added: "I think my legs are getting better and better, and all the long climbs are coming."

The words were slightly different to the mood, with Vingegaard not seeming loquacious, looking pensive as he warmed down on his time trial bike outside the Visma team bus. His answer to a simple, soft-ball question of "what's next" was terse: "I'm going to sleep tonight and there's a stage tomorrow."

Vingegaard, the Giro d'Italia winner, does still sit second overall, and perhaps not losing too much time is something to be happy with, but these do not feel like the words of a relentless winner. Evenepoel is now just 30 seconds behind, lurking.

"It was a very hard day," Marc Reef, the Visma-Lease a Bike sports director, said post-stage. "Jonas did a great job, he fought all the way to the line, but Pogačar was stronger. We did not see it [the attack], we heard it, and the next moment we heard something was that there was a time gap to Jonas. From that moment on, we tried to motivate him, he's been in this situation before in this stage two years ago. All the rest stayed in his wheel, and we knew that they could work together to close the gap.

"On the last climb, the gap increased again and it was difficult to come. I think the others are riding for the podium, and that's their decision. We are here to win and that's why we motivated Jonas to keep fighting to the line, and that's what he did. No regrets.

"At this moment Pogačar is a lot stronger and big congrats to him, but we're not in Paris yet and we'll keep fighting," he added. Asked if the team should be looking up, not down towards other threats to second place, Reef said: "It's too early to say something about that now."

Sepp Kuss, one of Vinegaard's key lieutenants, did sound more realistic, however. Asked if he could see a way through Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the American said: "At the moment, no. They were riding incredibly strong and they have the strongest rider too. So we just have to keep trying and stick to our plan and stick to our strengths and see if things come out for us on the stages that suit us."

Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike cannot come out and give up in their fight against Pogačar. However, with the battle only heading one way, and 11 stages still to come, how much longer can they say they are fighting for yellow with a straight face? We might know by the end of the week.

Domination, it seems, is not to everyone’s taste.

On stage 10 of the Tour de France in the Massif Central, the victor was once again Tadej Pogačar, his third triumph in the 2026 edition extending his lead in the GC to 3:36 to Jonas Vingegaard. He has never had such a comfortable lead at this stage of the race.

The tens of thousands of fans by the roadside on Bastille Day, however, were not united in joy in seeing another Pogačar win.

Speaking after the stage – his 24th victory in the Tour – Pogačar revealed that he had been the subject of booing from some spectators, though he didn’t specify how frequent it was.

What the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider did reveal was that negative comments directed towards him only serve as inspiration.

“For sure I have haters and haters gonna hate,” Pogačar said, sounding somewhat like the rapper Eminem whose short cut bleached blonde hair he has mimicked.

“To all the booers who are out there, they just give more boost to my teammates. They put wood on the fire.”

Though Pogačar has never been the subject of a vitriolic, toxic atmosphere in the same way Team Sky and Chris Froome were in the mid-2010s, neither was it the first time that fans have expressed their disapproval with Pogačar’s stranglehold on the sport.

“In this scenario, when someone is booing me or anyone… I always think about tennis and Novak Djokovic and the great mentality he has,” Pogačar continued. “He has had one of the toughest careers [with] getting boos and unnecessary hate.

“He is the greatest and I always look up to Novak Djokovic when someone is booing and think about him.”

Despite experiencing some unpleasant reactions from fans, Pogačar was keen to point out that cycling is not as tribal as other sports. “For example, in tennis or in football there is much more booing and people go against one player or one team because it’s one against one and it’s 50-50,” he said.

“I also need to say that in cycling there isn’t so much booing. 99% of people are cheering for everybody. I think cycling fans are the greatest among all sports so we should be happy and grateful for all fans.”

With regards to the race at large, Pogačar looks to have a near unassailable lead in the yellow jersey, with only illness or a crash likely to prevent him from winning a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey.

He has made a mockery of pre-race anticipation that longtime rival Vingegaard would be able to mount a credible challenge to the maillot jaune this July.

“I cannot say anything about the form of my competitors – I can just say that mine is really good,” Pogačar said.

“I think so far the Tour has been laid out really good for our capabilities as a team. With me and Isaac [del Toro] together, it was to our advantage in the first 10 days.

“Now we will see when the big mountains come like Alpe d’Huez [on stages 19 and 20] and the Markstein [on stage 14], as they’re really pure climbing days.

“I hope my form will also be good for these kinds of days, but for sure the competitors will also be ready for the big mountains.

“I need to be really focused and not get too ahead of myself, to keep calm and think about anything that can happen. In one day you can easily lose 30 minutes. I need to keep doing what I can and as a team we will see how things develop during the Tour. I hope it stays like this.”

On a fast and furious stage of the Tour de France, where the racing belied the hot conditions and challenging parkour, Tadej Pogačar showed his dominance on the final category 1 climb, taking a commanding lead and getting revenge for his loss to Jonas Vingegaard in Le Lioran two years ago.

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) was seen to be suffering big time on the final climb, fighting for his GC position, but he pulled off an miraculous recovery to launch the sprint for second place, which he won. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) secured an impressive third place, which will taste especially sweet for the French prodigy and his legions of fans on Bastille Day.

Jonas Vingegaard finished seventh – he keeps second spot in the general classification but the time gap is growing and he is now 3 minutes and 36 seconds behind the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider.

"Today was an incredible day," Pogačar said in the interview immediately after the stage finish. "The team did a super good job. We targeted this stage since a long time ago. It also happens that two years ago Jonas beat me in the sprint fair and square. And today I had similar legs at the finish – completely destroyed.

"I didn't know I was going to win until the final kilometre. Then I remember it is Bastille Day and I tried to honour the yellow jersey. Thanks to all the fans that came today. It was a fantastic atmosphere, even though there was some booing. To all the guys who were booing - you give us more power!

"We were trying new radios, and when there was too much public [noise] I don't hear nothing in the radio. For th last 10km I didn't know what was the gap, who is doing what - all I had in my mind was try to keep pushing to the top. We also did a recon trip yesterday - there was a a little bit of doubt in my head, since two years ago, Jonas came - and then I was empty in the sprint, so I had this in my head until the final few hundred metres."

There are always fireworks in France on Bastille Day, but today the scene was set for a properly explosive show, with Pogačar looking to exorcise the ghosts of 2024, when he was defeated on this stage by Jonas Vingegaard, who beat him across the finish line in Le Lioran in a two-man sprint. Although he denied it, the Slovenian was very clearly out for revenge, and the race pace was fast all day, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG always in control.

While this wasn’t a mountain stage, the 166km route had a proper sharks-teeth profile, and plenty of bite, with seven classified climbs, including two category one ascents. Across the whole day riders had to contend with almost 4000 metres of ascent, with nearly 3000 metres of that coming in the last 100km.

There were several crashes during the day, as the peloton wounds its way around some narrow roads. The first took down Brit Jake Stewart (NSN Cycling Team), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché), Kamil Gradek (Bahrain - Victorious) and Alex Kirsch (Cofidis), while the second involved Robbe Dhondt (Team Picnic PostNL).

Pinarello Q36.5 riders Tom Pidcock and Chris Harper suffered a spill on the descent after Puy Mary, but Pidcock in particular quickly got back on his bike and rejoined the chasing pack.

A large break formed early in the day, but it fell apart when riders failed to work together, and it was left to Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) to try and get something more positive going. Javier Romo (Movistar) used this as a springboard to launch a more positive attack, but he was eventually caught by the pack on the lower slopes of category-one Puy Mary, with 38km to go.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) took up the baton and launched a valiant attack, which came to an end when Pogačar put the hammer down with 15km to go, leaving Vingegaard in his wake and flying past the Ecuadorian just before the top of Col de Pertus. Pogačar's wingman and apprentice Del Toro seemed to be suffering for the first time in this tour, and the yellow-jersey wearing Slovenian was flying solo.

With a 41-second lead with 1km to go, Pogačar was able to descend without taking risks, and it was a comfortable finish for Pogačar, who made his third Bastille Day victory look pretty easy in the end.

Results

Tour de France 2026 stage 10: Aurillac > Le Lorian (166.6km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:58:08
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +32s
3. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +34s
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, at s.t.
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +38s
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, at s.t.
7. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +44s
8. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +1:31
9. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Pinarello Q36.5, +1:59
10. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +2:03

Tour de France 2026 general classification after stage 10

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 36:15:02
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:36
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:06
4. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +4:22
5. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +4:35
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:44
7. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +5:08
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+5:45
9. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +6:34
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, +11:49

It is really hot in France at the moment. It might be too hot. This won’t have escaped the attention of anyone watching at home, given how often it is mentioned on TV coverage, but it is probably the defining feature of the Tour de France so far. Last week, stage four was one of the hottest on record, stage nine was similarly close to the line. On stage three, fans were banned from the finish due to wildfires, while stage nine had its route changed to make it shorter amid a red heat warning; Tuesday’s stage 10 has been moved forward by 10 minutes to make things a little cooler.

France has been suffering through a heatwave for weeks now; some parts of the country are reporting a 25% rise in water usage due to temperatures, with 77 départments facing water restrictions at the moment. Wildfires have reached just outside Paris, with some monuments in the city closing early. In the heart of the Massif Central, where the Tour remains on Tuesday, there is still a red weather warning, with temperatures potentially soaring to 36°C.

“Extreme heat events do occur within natural climate variation due to changes in global weather patterns. However, the increase in the frequency, duration, and intensity of these events over recent decades is clearly linked to the observed warming of the planet and can be attributed to human activity,” the UK Met Office said this week, adding “higher temperature extremes mean that there is a bigger risk of regions becoming difficult for humans to live and work in.”

The climate crisis is here, affecting the country, and it is affecting the race too. Stages are being raced differently, riders are suffering more, with certain athletes conspicuous by their absence at the front due to the weather. This isn’t a slightly warm week; this is the Tour and France facing an existential crisis at the same time.

Temperatures are the talk of the paddock at the Tour, with riders and sports directors sharing various theories about what could be done. Some would like the race moved forward to the morning, to avoid the hottest part of the day, while others think that we’re getting to the point where stages need to be cancelled – something local authorities have the power to do this year.

Cutting 30km segments from the route or moving start times does rather feel like moving deckchairs around the Titanic after it has hit the iceberg. The yellow jersey at the Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar, thinks radical change is needed. In his press conference post-stage nine, he said: “In my opinion it's a big topic to discuss but if I had [the] power to change all, I would change the whole calendar

“I would not race in July and in August in the hot place. That's something that we need to think through, and in the end it's not something I can do.”

If you forget the irony of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG riding for a team sponsored by one of the world’s most powerful petro-states, and XRG an energy investment company, then he has a point.

Continuing as normal with the Tour in July, let alone the Vuelta a España in August, feels a little ridiculous. A radical rethink of the calendar is needed, but the power still lies with people who won’t want to budge. Today is 14 July, La Fête Nationale, Bastille Day to you and I, and the Tour always races on Bastille Day. The Tour has been raced in July since its first edition in 1903.

Pogačar went on to say that he had mixed feelings about shifting the times of stages, saying that was "maybe the next step.

"Yesterday there was one proposal to start at 10, but for me that does not change anything because then you'd finish in the big heat."

This arguably token change would at least prove that the organisers are prepared to be flexible. It might not suit broadcaster schedules, but it would result in less riding in the peak of the day. A calendar shift feels like a more sustainable step, though.

The climate crisis doesn’t particularly care about tradition or broadcasting deals. Whatever the scheduling headache, it's a far better problem to have than another July where riders needing ice baths and a billion bottles a day is normal.

Part of the Tour's whole appeal is suffering. That’s the mythology, with riders battling the mountains and the weather, and each other. But there's a difference between the suffering that makes for a good story and the suffering that ends with an emergency. This suffering is probably getting too much.

Would a June or a September Tour de France really ruin everything? No. Might it extend this travelling circus’s lifespan for a few more decades? Yes. Will it happen? Well, probably not. Still, it’s good it is being discussed. A few more hot days and the needle might turn even further towards radical change.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

After demolishing his Tour de France rivals and taking the yellow jersey at Gavarnie-Gèdre on Thursday, Tadej Pogačar enjoyed an uneventful stage seven, finishing the day still sitting pretty 2:42 ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), with Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) taking the bunch sprint win.

You get the impression this will be the first of many straightforward days in yellow lying ahead for UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Pogačar. Even on the high mountain stages where his rivals could take him on at his own game, it feels as though something exceptional will need to happen even for someone to take a small chunk of his lead from him.

For many race followers, the only chance of overturning Pogačar would seem to be if he has a bad day, or crashes – with the latter being a scenario that even Vingegaard's fans wouldn't wish for.

Along those lines, he was asked after stage seven about his bad day on the Col du Granon in 2022, when he ceded the yellow jersey to Vingegaard, finishing the stage 2:51 behind the Dane – an uncannily similar amount of time to that by which he leads the race now.

That day he was the victim of a poor feeding strategy. How had he evolved since that day four years ago, he was asked.

"If I look at my physical capabilities, of course I'm a bit better than back then," he told journalists. "My mind is growing as well, and [my] experience."

However, he added: "I think one of the biggest changes that we could do as a team is organisation around the feeding and having really good hydration and nutrition [plan]."

That included regulating his body temperature, he said, describing the current race as "hellish hot". Indeed, on the day of stage seven, the finishing city of Bordeaux was sizzling in 37-degree temperatures.

"This Tour is hellish hot, [but] for sure my body temperature is cooler than it was in 2022 or any before, because we really keep focused on cooling down," he said. "I think that's a big difference. Just planning, organisation and motivation for the next few days is very different to what it was in 2022."

In theory, then, we won't be seeing Pogačar losing yellow to a blood-sugar crash again in the next two weeks like he did that day in 2022. That said, his team no doubt believed they had their strategies nailed that day too. Best laid plans, as they say. It's a hoary old rider favourite, but there's no denying the sheer factual correctness of the phrase, "the Tour isn't over till it's over". We'll all have to wait and see.

After taking yellow just two days ago, Torstein Træen lost the lead and then was forced to retire from the Tour de France due to injuries he suffered on a crash on stage six.

According to a team statement, Træen suffered multiple fractured ribs and concussion after a crashing on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet.

"This is really not the ending we wanted for the yellow adventure," said the team's general manager Thor Hushovd.

The crash took place with around 30km to go, after a rampaging attack by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) had already put Træen well in arrears. He managed to finish the stage, albeit 29:55 down on the Slovenian stage winner, his yellow jersey stint well and truly put to bed.

In fact, he crossed the line with a smile on his face, perhaps because of the rousing welcome he was given by the still-waiting fans.

Speaking briefly to reporters afterwards, Træen said at the time he wasn't sure whether he would continue the Tour de France.

"We have to see what the x-ray shows for now," he said, before the medical report was relased. "My head is hurting a bit, and then obviously my ribs are not super fine, so we just have to see,"

Asked about how he managed to survive the rest of the stage, which comprised the rest of the descent and the cat-two climb up to Gavarnie-Gèdre, he revealed that he and Anders Halland Andersen had joked about sprinting for the line.

"I was joking with Anders that we will sprint for it," he said. "I don't know if he would let me win or not, but at least we can still enjoy it, even though it was not the best day."

The big mountains of stage six from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre were always going to prove a hurdle, but Træen probably hadn't reckoned on crashing hard on the descent of the Tourmalet.

It was some time before the Uno-X Mobility rider eased himself gingerly back into the saddle, after clipping wheels with Halland Johannessen in a hairpin, the bike flipping over and dumping him hard on the tarmac.

But he had already lost a lot of time and, crash or no crash, his tenure in yellow would have come to an end at Gavarnie-Gèdre.

Træen, who also wore the leader's jersey in last year's Vuelta a España, had taken the jersey on stage four in Foix after being part of a major breakaway that finished almost 13 minutes ahead of the peloton.

After that stage Pogačar said he could end up holding the lead for a long time. Perhaps the Slovenian decided he was missing it, or maybe he didn't expect to beat Træen by so much. Either way, the jersey is back with a more familiar caretaker this evening.

They will say that Tadej Pogačar dealt a blow on stage six of the Tour de France. But really it was a pummelling – a beatdown so strong that, even by Pogačar’s standards, it took people by surprise.

Never in the world champion’s 22 previous stage victories at the race had he won so resoundingly, both in terms of distance and time. His 43km solo, over the Col du Tourmalet and on to Gavarnie, was his furthest ever at the Tour. The two minutes and 38 seconds he won by was his biggest single-day margin. Entire Tours have been decided by less.

And yet, as he sat in his press conference after the stage, dressed again in the yellow jersey he has already won four times, he barely seemed tired. Especially not for a man who had gotten up at 7am because he was, in his words, “so excited for today”.

Pogačar had always planned to win on the race's first mountain test. But even he couldn't have expected to run away with the race.

“The energy yesterday on the bus after the finish was already a big hype for today,” he said. “We were like, ‘Let’s go all-in. What’s the worst that can happen?’ You can blow out a little bit, but we know that we are the stronger team, so we said we’d commit to one plan, and whatever happens, happens.”

What happened was a total demolition. Around 5km from the top of the Tourmalet, Pogačar sprung off the wheel of his UAE Team Emirates-XRG lieutenant Isaac del Toro, and charged away from his GC rivals. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) did his best to follow, but could only do so momentarily. By the time Pogačar passed the restaurant at the climb’s summit, his advantage was 31 seconds, which ballooned on the descent, and then swelled further on the near-19km drag up to the finish line in Gavarnie.

“The race went perfect for us, actually,” he said afterwards. “The breakaway couldn’t go for almost two hours, so that meant the bunch brought us closer to the climbs, and then we really did what we said.”

The day reminded the world champion of a similar one in 2023. That year, on stage six to Cauterets-Cambasque, Vingegaard attacked with Wout van Aert on the descent of the Tourmalet, and distanced Pogačar. “I had these flashbacks in my mind,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘If Jonas comes fresh to the top, and maybe he’s only 20 seconds [behind], he’s for sure catching me on the downhill.’”

In reality, it shouldn’t have worried him. Pogačar went on to win that stage three years ago, as he did on Thursday, in control once again in his playground of the Pyrenees.

Was there a moment, at all, when he felt on the limit? “I think, for me, if the climb [of the Tourmalet] was one kilometre longer, I would also have exploded,” he said.

“But I think for Jonas it was also a little bit too long for his pace. He did his best, he did really good, but there was a little bit of a difference, that you go too much into the red.”

Some watching on may have groaned at Pogačar’s dominance. But the fans at the roadside stood in awe of what they were seeing. One lady joyously waved her Slovenian flag in the wind. The staff at La Ruade bar, 300m from the finish line, came out onto the terrace and swung pumpkin-sized cowbells between their legs.

The crowd’s cheers then faded to silence. Where was Vingegaard? The gap on the big screen said almost two minutes, but the pictures were delayed; it felt like much longer. “I'm a Pogi guy,” one fan turned and said to his friend, “but I wanted there to be a contest.”

It was only when they heard the growl of a camera motorbike that the fans slipped out of their chit-chat, and turned to face the road, where a labouring Vingegaard chased in desperation.

For the Dane, what awaited at the summit was a huddle of reporters, impatient to capture his disappointment. Pogačar, on the other hand, was greeted by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, in a pair of blue aviator sunglasses. “We had an immense stage,” Macron, who had followed in a race car, told France Télévisions. “It was incredible.”

The president watched the podium ceremony from the wings and applauded Pogačar on his victory. When he eventually congratulated the Slovenian, he gripped his hand and held it for more than 15 seconds, hoping perhaps to extract some of his powers.

This was, Macron realised, one of the sport’s most dominant riders ever, on one of his most dominant days. The supremacy was clear. This Tour may be a victory lap from here on.

Fresh across the line in the saturating heat at Gavarnie-Gèdre after stage six of the Tour de France, Adam Yates helped dissect the mindset and ability of teammate, stage winner and new yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar.

"Good," Yates said, after journalists broke the news that Pogačar had reclaimed the race lead, before explaining that life as a classification leader is all the Slovenian knows in the Tour.

"For him, I think he said on the bus the other day, he doesn't know any different – he's always in white or yellow or polka-dot or something, so he doesn't know the other side of the Tour de France, where you get to go in the bus and have a shower and all this, so I think it also shows his mental resilience," he said.

Asked whether he continued to be amazed by his Slovenian teammate, who had turned in his longest ever winning solo break in the Tour at 43km, Yates said: "When he does stuff like this… I mean, it's pretty normal for him," he joked.

Yates had been a key part of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad that bossed the stage on both the Col d'Aspin and the hors-category Col du Tourmalet, setting the stage for Pogačar to take flight, five kilometres from the summit of the latter.

He had passed through the finishing paddock a little over eight minutes before Yates arrived, his head bowed, face swarming in beads of sweat and looking pale from a combination of heat and effort – but ready to pull on the yellow jersey once again.

Yates described Pogačar's 2:42 lead on chief rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) as "a good advantage".

"The climb here today, the last climb after the Tourmalet is more like a valley climb," Yates went on. "It's not like a real climb so, you know, Tadej when he's on these kinds of rolling roads, he's one of the best in the world. It was always the plan to for him to launch on Tourmalet, and to try and have a gap… seems like it paid off."

Yates even confessed to being surprised at exactly how big the gap to Vingegaard was, but like any good pro cyclist addressing the media, he made sure to remind reporters that "it's never over till it's over".

"You can have bad days…" he added. "I think we just need to try not to make any mistakes and be calm. Hopefully we can recover the next two days and then we'll see."

Meanwhile Vingegaard and his team have been left licking their wounds and trying to square Pogačar's performance on stage six with the Dane's desire to win the Tour.

Yates was right, the Tour isn't over till it's over, but the rampaging Pogačar we saw today looks ever so familiar. He will take a lot to overcome.

Tadej Pogačar stormed to victory on stage six of the 2026 Tour de France, ripping up the general classification in the process, and taking back the yellow jersey on Thursday.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider flew away on the Col du Tourmalet, 43km from the finish, and put over two minutes into his closest rival, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), by the finish. It is his 23rd stage win at the race, and second of this Tour already.

Pogačar won the Souvenir Jacques Goddet over the top of the Tourmalet, with just 30 seconds on Vingegaard, but pushed on down the descent and on the final climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre. Meanwhile, previous yellow jersey Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) crashed after losing time, ending his time in the race lead. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) finished third.

Del Toro was part of a chase group including the other main favourites, like Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), which finished 2:57 behind the winner.

Pogačar now leads the race by 2:42 over Vingegaard, just six days into this Tour.

"I think top five, I would say," the world champion said when asked where he would rank this win. "I got flashbacks to the stage with the Tourmalet in 2023 when I broke my hand. I got a lot of flashbacks, it was a similar finish. It was a really incredible victory, one of the sweetest for sure.

"Yesterday on the bus when we were coming from the stage with the guys, there was a lot of hype already talking about today’s stage," he continued. "Today I woke up at 7 and my mind was going crazy already, I was really excited for today. All the guys were really hyped, so I knew it was going to be a good day. We just committed, we were going like nothing to lose, if we explode we explode. In the end, we succeeded and I’m super proud of everyone today, it was crazy teamwork."

As for whether he planned to decimate the race, he said: "In my mind I left everything to coincidence. Whatever happens happens, I was not calculating minutes or seconds, I just wanted to go all the way to the finish full gas.

"I think I would not take the yellow jersey today, because Torstein crashed on the Tourmalet. It’s a shit downhill, really dangerous if you miss a corner. I hope he’s ok. I would still prefer if he would keep the jersey today, so I hope he recovers fast and can continue racing."

The day's early break began with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) surging up the road in search of points, follows Huub Artz (Lotto Intermarché) and Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike).

The only notable thing to happen early on was Artz being pulled up by the race jury over his position on his handlebars, which ended up with the Belgian dropping out of the break.

With 135km to go, the bunch split up on the Côte de Loucrup, the first classified climb of the day. Visma-Lease a Bike applied a lot of pressure to the front of the peloton, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) briefly looking isolated.

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was briefly distanced after he stopped for a nature break, and the peloton pressed on.

Once Pedersen won the intermediate sprint, he sat up and was caught with 123km to go. Immediately, the action to try and get into the day’s next break began, especially at the race headed onto the Côte de Mauvezin. However, with a lot of action at the front of the peloton, it proved difficult to establish anything significant. Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello Q36.5) headed up the road, before O’Connor forged on alone.

The Australian built up a lead of over a minute approaching the Col d’Aspin, the opening first-category climb of the race. On the Aspin, UAE Team Emirates-XRG took to the front of the peloton, and O’Connor was caught with 73km to go.

Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) won the KOM sprint at the top of the Aspin, ahead of Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step). On the next climb, the hors categorie Col du Tourmalet, the front of the race got dramatically smaller. Among those dropped under pressure from UAE was Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility), the yellow jersey, who was dropped. Next to go was Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5).

Just 14 riders remained in the front group with 5.5km to go on the Tourmalet, three UAE riders including Isaac del Toro and Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelsmose (Lidl-Trek), Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Martinez, Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).

Yates dropped back, then Del Toro took over. The UAE pair moved clear, shadowed by Vingegaard, Lipowitz and Seixas, with Evenepoel further back. Pogačar pressed on alone 4.1km from the top, as Vingegaard, followed by Lipowitz and then Del Toro, sought to fight back.

Over the top of the Tourmalet, Pogačar had half a minute on Vingegaard, a gap which only extended on the descent. Meanwhile, Træen was over seven minutes back, looking like he was heading out of the yellow jersey. A crash on the descent then fully ended his yellow dream.

The chase group including Seixas, Lipowtiz, Evenepoel and others swelled with just over 27km to go. On the final climb of the day, Pogačar’s lead to Vingegaard ballooned to over 90 seconds, with the group of other chasers another 40 seconds behind.

Results

Tour de France 2026 stage six: Pau > Gavarnie-Gèdre (186.2km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:32:07
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:38
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:57
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
5. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
7. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, all at same time
9. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +3:02
10. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:06

General classification after stage six

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 21:11:57
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:42
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +3:27
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:30
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +3:34
6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:55
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:00
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +4:21
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+4:57
10. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +7:10

Tadej Pogačar crossed the Col du Tourmalet first on stage six of the 2026 Tour de France to win the Souvenir Jacques Goddet.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider pushed on alone 4.1km from the top of the hors categorie climb on Thursday, after initially attacking with his teammate Isaac del Toro.

Pogačar was chased by his rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) over the top of the Pyrenean climb, but he had an advantage of around 30 seconds by the time the Tourmalet was summited. He also had almost a minute and a half on a group containing Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)

The award is given yearly for the rider to reach the top of the Tourmalet first, along with a €5,000 cash prize, and 20 points in the mountains competition. It's the first time Pogačar has won the prize, although the Slovenian has won three stages which have included the climb.

Interestingly, the prize has never been won by a rider who has gone on to win the race, showing how remarkable Pogačar's attack on the climb was.

On Thursday, with the Tourmalet 38.5km from the finish, Pogačar looked in an excellent position to win stage six, which would be his second of the race. With yellow jersey Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) over seven minutes behind the leader on the road, it also looked like the Slovenian was heading into yellow.

This early in the race, it looked like he was putting his stamp on proceedings, with 15 stages still to come. The second-category climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre (18.7km at 3.7%) was still to come after the Tourmalet.

More to follow...

Torstein Træen completed his first day in the Tour de France yellow jersey on Wednesday's fifth stage, although it wasn't without incident – and tomorrow offers its own challenges too.

The peloton tackles its first hors-catégorie mountain on stage six in the form of the Col du Tourmalet, which itself is sandwiched in-between the cat-one Col d'Aspin and the cat-two finishing climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre.

In theory, his 7:53 lead over Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), should enable Træen to hold on to the yellow jersey. But, speaking looking ahead to it on Wednesday evening, he said "Tadej is Tadej" and nothing was guaranteed.

"We have to see how fast they're going. And of course, Tadej is Tadej, and I think if he goes full gas on the Tourmalet, maybe I will be behind. You don't know how much you will be losing. We've just got to see tomorrow."

The high temperatures, which cooled mid-week to a balmy 31deg C (88F) on stage five, are due to pick up again, which made things even less predictable, he said.

"We haven't had a lot of real mountain climbing yet," he added. "So we don't know what will happen, and then with this heat everything can happen, so you just have to hope and do your best."

The 30-year-old, who is a former Tour de Suisse stage winner and wore the leader's jersey at the Vuelta a España last year, came off his bike at one point on stage five in an incident he said he didn't know much about. "Suddenly I was on the ground," he said, adding that he was quickly paced back to the bunch and suffered "only a small cut on my knee".

How did he enjoy his first ever day in yellow, he was asked. "Yeah, quite nice," came the understated reply. "All the boys said I looked really well, really well. So, yeah, it was nice to have compliments from the boys.

"When you get cancer, you don't know what will happen," he added, referencing his 2022 testicular cancer diagnosis (which was successfully treated), "and I'm obviously quite happy to be back at a good level and leading the biggest race of the world."

As new Tour de France GC leader Torstein Træen is already finding out, being the wearer of the yellow jersey in the Tour de France is at once the most privileged and the most onerous job in cycling. But when your name is Tadej Pogačar that pressure is doubled.

No wonder he seemed perfectly happy to have handed it over on stage four. He'll pass the next few days, maybe more, in comparative anonymity – or as close to that as Tadej Pogačar wearing the rainbow bands can ever come in the Tour de France – while Træen fields the various podium and press conference duties required of the yellow jersey.

Also ahead of Pogačar are Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), who are at 28sec and 3:50 to Træn, while Pogačar is languishing at full 7:53 in arrears. The stage, from Carcassonne to Foix, was won by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).

That isn't to say the maillot jaune will be forgotten about by Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG, far from it. Following stage four, he spoke to journalists as he warmed-down on a trainer in the still-broiling shade behind the UAE bus in Foix.

"I mean, obviously the goal is to take back the yellow jersey," he said. "But yeah, you never know. They are really good, and it's quite a big gap, so we will see. Now we will fight, but yeah, I think they can keep the yellow jersey for a long time."

With the mercury soaring to 39deg C (102F) along the course, according to Cycling Weekly's overworked car, cooling protocols in the peloton were at the forefront of every team's strategies. Race regulations were also amended to allow more water bottles to be handed up at feed zones.

Pogačar was affected just as much as anyone else, saying: "When we started, I had a full headache, and I was thinking this is gonna be one long day," he said. "But then we kept showering each other with the water, and all was good."

Exactly how much performance benefit there was in being able to skip duties such as press conferences and podium duties was hard to measure, Pogačar said, adding: "But some days there is probably a lot of stress with media, and some days it's easy to do. It just depends on the day, and it's hard to tell.

"Today will be one-and-a-half hours less obligations, so it definitely helps with recovery," he added. "But I think now I'm pretty used to doing all the podium stuff, and we've got good protocol, and I have good help around me, good people that help me to stay cool and calm, and yeah, to recover as best as possible, even when we have to do the podium."

Pogačar also had a word of praise for the Lidl-Trek team, saying that if a team of their calibre went in the breakaway, then it would likely succeed.

They did a "super-good job", he said, but praised the efforts of his own team too. "We kept it cool, calm, and we arrived at the finish, I think, not spending a crazy amount of energy, obviously. I think Nils [Politt], Florian [Vermeersch] and Tim [Wellens] were super good today, dividing the work," he said.

The next week or so looks like friendly territory for a rider looking to hang on to yellow for a while. Assuming Træen survives the big mountains of stage six, which crosses the cols d'Aspin and Tourmalet, with an uphill finish at Gavarnie-Gèdre, and the hard and mountainous stage 10 to Le Lorian, he could certainly keep it till stage 14 – a 10-day tenure. That's when the big mountains of the final week kick in, starting with a finish at Le Markstein.

And at the end of that, Træen may well feel more than happy to hand back those media and podium duties – perhaps to Pogačar, but not necessarily – and with it the yellow jersey.

How many Tour de France stages do you think Tadej Pogačar will win this edition? Before this year, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had won 21 times across six races, so an average of 3.5 stages per race, or a win every six days, if you prefer that metric. For context, Marcel Kittel won 14 stages in six Tours, 2.3 a race, or a win every seven days, in total. Kittel was a dominant sprinter, while Pogačar is a general classification rider.

After three stages of the 2026 Tour de France, Pogačar has already won a 22nd stage, putting him just 13 behind the record held by Mark Cavendish. Feasibly, the Slovenian could win another five stages; even when he finished second at the 2023 race, he won two. That doesn’t leave many opportunities for other teams.

Stage two was won by his teammate, Isaac del Toro, while stage one’s team time trial was won by Visma-Lease a Bike. There are now 18 more days for teams to make an impact; if we imagine that at least a few of the days in the big mountains are destined for GC riders, and there will be a handful of days which end in bunch sprints, then it doesn’t leave a lot for everyone else.

Spare a thought for the 18 riders who fought hard to make the breakaway on stage three. Given their size, how early it was in the race, and how there were unlikely to be huge gaps at the finish line, they would have all been hoping that they would have some leeway to compete for the stage win. Getting in a break is not something that happens by accident, but after a lot of effort, positioning, and skill, so for it all to be for nothing must have been dispiriting.

UAE did not need to pull them back on Monday; the race was not on the line, there is lots of road to win the yellow jersey on. As soon as Tuesday morning, there was speculation that Pogačar might be looking to give the jersey back away, so they don’t have to control the race for basically three weeks. Therefore, stage three was just a show of strength, a point proven, the Slovenian and his team showing that they can do what they want.

The Tour’s organisers, ASO, probably loved the opening stages, the big names in the distinctive jerseys, a GC battle which, for now, has the illusion of being close, due to there not being incredibly selective climbs. For the casual fan, I suppose it’s nice to see the big names doing it all.

However, I long for some novelty, for not complete domination, for teams not called UAE, or Visma to a lesser extent, to dictate the race, and to allow other story lines to grow. Perhaps this will happen on stage four, and there are still a lot of stages left, I just fear another Tour de Pog. At least wait until the Vosges, please. By the way, I think Pogačar has four more stages in him this year; any advance?

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

After romping into the yellow jersey and taking the stage victory with it on day three of the Tour de France at Les Angles, Tadej Pogačar put up the unlikely theory that he might never win again.

While not a mathematical impossibility, the likelihood of that scenario looks vanishingly small, given the form that the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider has shown over the past three days. While rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) may have swiped a popular yellow jersey on stage one, Pogačar was still fastest up the final climb. Yesterday he gifted the stage win to teammate Isaac Del Toro, before finally opting, as if at will, to take one for himself.

Plus ça change.

Pogacar's 'never win again' suggestion was mostly an attempt to fend off the question of whether he was eyeing up Mark Cavendish's 35-stage Tour de France win record – which would require 14 more to beat for the Slovenian.

"That's still quite far away," Pogačar said. "Maybe today was my last victory ever, so I prefer to stay in the moment… enjoy this victory. Every victory feels very special, and if we can have more moments like yesterday, I'll also be grateful.

"So far my career is already beyond my wildest imagination, so yeah, I don't want to think about Mark's record. Just go with the flow and see what we can do in the future, but yeah, if today is my last victory, I'm happy enough."

As if to underline the improbability of his 'last win' postulation, when asked whether he planned to build his form throughout the race, he said there was no form left to build.

"I think maybe this was in the past, like 20 years ago, when they were aiming that the shape will grow to the last week," he said. "But I think now these days you need to come with the best shape possible at the start of the Tour, and you go with it. You try every day to recover as much as possible, eat food like a robot, and just go with the flow with what you bring here."

Last win or not, Pogačar had planned for stage three to be a family affair, with his mother at the finish. However, due to wildfires in the region, a decree issued by the Pyrenees-Orientales department forbade fans from attending the race under threat of prosecution, so she opted to stay away.

"My mum messaged me in the morning, saying, 'Ah, we cannot come to see the stage today, because of the rules," he said.

But not everyone was keen on the restrictions, prosecution or not: "We came to 20km to go, and the top of the climb was full of people, which was, for me, nice," he added. "But yeah, a lot of people decided not to come but still many, many did. Only here in the final, I think, it was a bit less."

With the heat set to soar to 40 degrees plus for Tuesday's fourth stage from Carcassonne to Foix, and continued high heat lasting well into the race, today's ruling may not be the last of the Tour. But as they proved today that won't necessarily deter the fans. And if Pogačar's form remains as hot as the fry-an-egg tarmac of southern France, they're likely to see him win another stage too.

Tadej Pogačar sprang to victory on stage three of the Tour de France on Monday, taking the yellow jersey in the process.

Launched across the finish line by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, and yesterday’s stage winner Isaac del Toro, Pogačar took an impressive win on the ascent to Les Angles, securing a two-second gap over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) The two GC rivals are now level, but as a result of count back, Pogačar now has the race lead and the maillot jaune.

Richard Carapaz took third place on a day when his EF Education–EasyPost teammate Alex Baudin led a spirited breakaway and took the KOM jersey.

During his post-ride interview, Pogačar was effusively complimentary about Del Toro, who put another massively impressive ride on a tough, long, hot and hilly stage.

"It’s because of him, it’s because of Isaac today, I got some extra power I think in the final," said the Slovenia. "He committed more than 100% in the final climb, all the team actually. In the middle of the stage we decided that it’s possible to go for the stage win, and I’m really happy that we start the Tour like this. An incredible finish today.

"If we can win like we won today, and the team feels super good, then we have to take the opportunity. We tried, we gave it all, and we won.

"To take the yellow jersey is a dream for any cyclist, of any age. For me, I don’t know which time already, but every time I can get it is really special. I don’t know for how long this will last, but we try to enjoy every moment."

On a day when most people expected a breakaway to prevail, it came down instead to a battle between the GC contenders during the final 10km, with very few spectators as the stage finished in France, but in an 'exceptional format', due to soaring heat and the heightened risk of wildfires.

The second-longest stage of this year's Tour had a tough and challenging parkour – not a mountain stage, but relentlessly lumpy, with lots of long climbs and a total of 3940 metres of altitude gain across the day, including an uphill finish.

The first third of the stage was ridden at a frenetic pace, with average speeds of 43km per hour despite the lumpy terrain and temperatures in the mid to late 30 degrees celsius. An early crash on the first climb took down multiple riders and left Bruno Armirail (Visma-Lease-a-bike) with a visibly injured right knee and a broken shoe.

With 125km to go, after one-and-a-half hours of relentless riding, the race seemed to settle and then 19 riders made a move. Of this group, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) was best placed, with decent position in the GC and a vaguely realistic chance of moving into yellow if he could get the right support from riders around him.

Visma-Lease a Bike appeared almost content to let go of the yellow jersey for a stage and sat back, and UAE Team Emirates-XRG soon capitalised, significantly stepping up the pace and chasing the advance group down. The breakaway failed to establish enough of a gap and it was soon whittled down to six riders, with Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM), Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious), George Bennett (NSN Cycling), Raúl García Pierna (Movistar) and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies) hanging in with Baudin.

Baudin mounted an attack during the second-last climb of day – the relatively gentle, but long, ascent of the Col du Calvaire, and fellow Frenchman Nicolas Prodhomme stuck with him. Baudin took the points at the top of the climb, and with it the KOM jersey, and stayed doggedly ahead of the peloton until 11.5km to go, but the UAE-led peloton was always going to reel him in.

This set the scene for an exciting finish, with all the GC contenders in the mix as the pack entered the final kilometre. Having seized control of the race, UAE Team Emirates-XRG were in a commanding position, and Del Toro launched Pogačar into the pole spot with 500 metres to go.

Results

Tour de France stage three: Granollers › Les Angles (195.9km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:45:11
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2s
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost
4. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, both at same time
5. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +4s
6. Lennert Van Eeetvelt (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
8. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
9. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
10. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, all at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 8:46:55
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +23s
4. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +24s
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +27s
6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +48s
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +53s
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +1:09
9. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +1:11
10. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:17

Defending Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar goes into Stage 1's 19.6km team time trial on a new Colnago time trial bike, code-named the TT2. The Slovenian was spotted using it during the Tour de Romandie prologue in April already - no doubt a move to get some race-effort miles on it in preparations for July.

According to Colnago, complete bikes, including a solid-disc rear, can be built to the UCI weight limit of 6.8kg, which is an incredible feat. The TT2 is some 580g lighter than the model it replaces, with savings said to come from across the bike to improve stability and weight distribution and to aid performance on modern WorldTour TT courses and uphill finishes. Of course, it's faster, too, thanks to a new-fangled front end with a conventional steerer (no bayonet here) that is claimed to save 2 watts over the TT1 and cull weight.

The new bike is also bang-on trend to accommodate wider tyre clearances – up from 28mm to 30mm. Based on what we examined, that might be considered overkill, as Tadej's bike was fitted with 25mm Continental GP5000 TT TR tyres.

The bike is built with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 components and adorned with Carbon-Ti trim here and there. Up front is a one-by-specific 64T Carbon-Ti chainring with an 11-30T cassette out back, driven by 160mm cranks – a balanced gearing configuration for the flats but something that will pose a notable challenge for the double-kick ascent up Montjuïc hill to the Olympic Stadium.

Despite the narrow-wide profiling of the Carbon-Ti chainring, Pogačar is using a UAE-branded K-Edge chainkeeper to ensure retention across all terrain types.

An interesting move was the fitment of 25mm Continental GP5000 TT TR tyres – the narrowest size we've seen across all the teams we visited at the Grand Depart weekend in Barcelona. Despite the 22mm internal rim width of the Enve SES Pro wheels, the tyres will - at the most - inflate to between 26-27mm, which suggests it's been employed as an aerodynamic move. UAE Team Emirates-XRG have also been running 28mm tyres on their Colnago Y1Rs and V5Rs road bikes, again an aerodynamic ploy, according to the mechanics.

Pog's Colnago TT2 rolls on a pair of Enve SES Pro wheels with a 100mm depth up front and a solid disc at the rear.

The touchpoints come compliments of Enve and Fizik. The Slovenian's cockpit is a custom one-piece Enve solution that mounts directly to the basebar via dual risers. For extra support, there's a bridge near the top that doubles as a Wahoo computer mount.

After parting ways with Prologo at the end of the 2024 season, UAE Team Emirates-XRG are now using Fizik saddles, with Tadej opting for the 192g 3D-printed Aeris 1.0 TT model.

We spotted some interesting hacks on the Colnago TT2. For hand retention during cornering, the base bar has grip tape mounted over a layer of black electrical tape – not the prettiest solution, but these rudimentary solutions have become part of the discipline.

Closer examination of the front end reveals an extra shifter button that has been hot-glued onto the Dura-Ace Di2 ST-R9180 STI TT brake levers. Given that these levers already have a remote shifter button, the extra shifter offers an alternative for shifting with the index finger rather than the thumb.

Other details worth noting are the gold Bikone ceramic bottom bracket, gold Carbon-Ti UDH-compatible dropout and axles, 140mm front/rear disc rotors, and Shimano Dura-Ace pedals. Sadly, no baby Hulk sticker was to be found.

Colnago TT2 bike specs

• Frameset: Colnago Carbon monocoque
• Fork: Colnago Carbon fork with 25mm steerer
• Cockpit: Custom Enve bar and extensions
• Seatpost: Colnago Aero
• Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2: 64T, 11-30T
• Wheelset: Enve SES Pro front, SES Disc Pro rear
• Tyres: Continental GP5000 TT TR 25mm
• Saddle: Fizik Aeris 1.0 TT

Brimming with energy and sporting a blonde-dyed buzzcut that will put paid to any ideas of tufty hair protruding from helmet vents, Tadej Pogačar addressed a packed Tour de France press room in Barcelona for a look ahead to the race.

Last in a series of big GC players to subject themselves to media questioning in the sumptuous surrounds of the city's Recinto Modernista, with the Sagrada Familia looking on just a block away, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had his 'Pogačar' dialled up to 11 as he began by offering his smiley thanks to the media for turning up, flanked by team-mate Isaac Del Toro.

The questions went this way and that, with those asking them perhaps aware that the usual 'what are your hopes for the race?' and 'how's your form?' were somewhat redundant ('winning' and 'pretty amazing, thanks', presumably being the answers).

Asked about his rivals and in particular Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Pogačar took the first of more than one opportunity to big up the young team-mate sitting beside him.

"I don't think [Vingegaard] is the only one that can come close. I think there's quite a few guys here that could push for the victory – this guy next to me…" he said, nodding towards a slightly embarrassed looking Del Toro.

"But competition between me and Jonas the last four years was spectacular, I would say. I think we push further to new heights every year," he said.

A certain amount was also made of his scant 2026 racing calendar – he has only raced 16 days up to now, but he said he was feeling, "pretty good. Only 16 days of racing, but the training kilometres also count, and there's been a lot."

Was racing fewer days helping him to enjoy it more, he was asked.

"I've enjoyed racing all my lifetime," he responded, batting the question away, "but I must say that maybe I even enjoy it more every year because I've stayed in the same team with the same riders and people around me, so every race I feel like I look forward to coming back with the teammates and staff. The race is also there, but mainly I enjoy just seeing the team and being around the guys."

The 27-year-old, who is gunning for a landmark fifth Tour de France win this year, was asked, too, about his pro cyclist girlfriend Urška Žigart, who broke her jaw in a crash in the recent Tour de Suisse. "Thank you for the thought," he offered, before explaining that she was healing fast and already riding outside, even if the doctors had advised against it. And he addressed, too, the €100,000 he donated to his home village of Komenda, which was hit by a storm last month, with roofs ripped off houses. "I think it's quite important to have a roof over your head," he said. "While I was growing up in Komenda, for me everything was perfect, all the neighbours, all the people there… It's my time to give back."

The Tour de France begins on Saturday with a team time trial, around a city that is already thrumming to the beat of the race, dripping in Tour de France Yellow. Pogačar will hope to be sporting that yellow too come Saturday night, and he left no doubt as to how much he was looking forward to it, giving local journalists the top line they had perhaps turned up for.

"I really like Barcelona. It's one of the coolest cities ever," he gushed, before quipping, "It would be better to be here for vacation. But yeah, I'm really looking forward to the Grand Départ here, and really excited to race around here and similar roads as in [the Volta a] Catalunya. I think we are in the same hotel as we were on stage one in Catalunya, so it's quite familiar."

And Pogačar in the race lead on Saturday? That might be more familiar still.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have announced the seven riders that will support Tadej Pogačar as he defends his title at this year's Tour de France.

Isaac del Toro, Felix Großschartner, Brandon McNulty, Nils Politt, Florian Vermeersch, Tim Wellens, and Adam Yates will all join the Slovenian at the race, which begins this Saturday 4 July in Barcelona, Spain.

If Pogačar wins the yellow jersey, he will equal the all-time record, and join an exclusive club of five-time winners, alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin.

"The Tour de France is always the biggest challenge of the season and also the race that motivates us the most," Pogačar said in a statement. "Every year, you arrive at the start knowing that anything can happen over three weeks, and that’s what makes it so special.

"We’ve prepared really well as a team, everyone has worked incredibly hard, and now we’re excited to finally get started in Barcelona.

"I feel good, I’m looking forward to racing, and I know I’ll have a fantastic group of teammates and staff around me. We have a lot of confidence in each other and have built up a lot of experience together over the years."

Pogačar has never finished lower than second in six previous participations at the Tour. He won on debut in 2020, aged 21, when he dramatically overturned the GC in a penultimate day time trial to La Planche des Belles Filles.

The 27-year-old then went on to win in 2021, 2024 and 2025, finishing second to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in 2022 and 2023.

Del Toro is the only debutant in UAE Team Emirates-XRG's squad for this July's edition. The 22-year-old Mexican placed second on debut at the Giro d'Italia last season, winning 18 times throughout the year.

This season, both Del Toro and Pogačar have topped the GC at every stage race they have finished; Del Toro won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, while Pogačar won the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse.

"From a training perspective, I would say I'm stronger," Pogačar said of his form a week ago at the Tour de Suisse, speaking to L'Équipe.

Although the world champion has only completed 16 race days in 2026 so far, he has enjoyed one of his most successful season starts to date, winning three Monuments in Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The Tour de France opens with a team time trial in Barcelona on 4 July.

Looking ahead to the race, Pogačar said: "There will be strong rivals, difficult stages and many other unpredictable moments, but we’re ready to give everything."

Not since 1959 had the Tour de Suisse seen dominance like it did last week. The organisers had planned for a race, but instead they got an exhibition. On his debut appearance, Tadej Pogačar’s overall victory was crushing: he won by six minutes and 32 seconds, the race’s largest winning margin in 67 years, and in fewer stages – just five compared to the usual eight. Pogačar won three of them.

At times, it seemed effortless for the world champion. On stage one, he charged out of the peloton, like a seal swimming through a shoal of fish, to win with a 71km solo that earned him the race lead and a two-and-a-half-minute advantage.

Victories for Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) and Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) then interrupted the Pogačar show, before regular programming resumed; he won stage four’s time trial by four hundredths of a second ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), and then tagged and swallowed the escaped Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) on the final day to stamp the GC with a stage win. It was, in ice skating parlance, the final twirl at the end of a gold-medal-winning routine.

But what does it mean for the Tour de France? It’s now less than two weeks until the Grand Départ in Barcelona on 4 July. Pogačar hailed his sojourn in Switzerland as “really good preparation”, a chance to “test the legs, the heart, the lungs, everything”. Though he hasn’t shared the results of that self-assessed cardiogram, everything seems to be in fine working order – perhaps even better than ever. “I’m really looking forward to a whole month in France,” he told Cycling Pro Net with a confident grin.

Still, if the world champion’s on-bike performances weren’t a big enough warning sign for his Tour rivals, then a training tale he told L’Équipe last week certainly was. “On our camp [in Sierra Nevada], there’s a climb that I tested on last year,” he began. “I set a really good time, and I told myself, ‘Wow, I will never be able to go faster than that.’”

Pogačar returned to the unnamed climb at the end of his camp earlier this month. How did he fare? “I was significantly faster than last year,” he said. “From a training perspective, I would say I'm stronger.” It bears reminding that Pogačar won the Tour by four minutes and 24 seconds last year.

Pogačar’s approach to this year’s edition has been more refined. In a bid to arrive at the race fresher than any of his rivals, the Slovenian has done fewer race days than ever before, and to a near-perfect record too – he has collected 13 wins in just 16 starts.

Over the past six editions, he averaged 24 pre-Tour race days. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), by comparison, has already completed 36 in 2026, mostly due to racing, and winning, the Giro d’Italia.

It’s hard to know at this stage which strategy is better. But if a reduced calendar stops Pogačar showing signs of burnout in the final week of the Tour – “I can’t wait for it to be over,” he said after his stage 18 press conference last year – then this winning formula may prove the most potent yet.

So roll on 4 July. Mark the day Pogačar will begin his bid to earn a record-equalling fifth Tour title, one that will bring him in line with Bernard Hinault, Miguel Induráin, Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx.

Pogačar has previously branded comparisons between him and Merckx as “complete nonsense”. Forgive me, then, for drawing another parallel right now: just before Merckx won his fifth Tour de France in 1974, he made his debut at the Tour de Suisse, and topped the overall standings.

History could now repeat itself. And the Tour might see a level of dominance it hasn’t witnessed in decades.

A breakneck chase all the way to the line by Tadej Pogačar could not stop breakaway rider Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) from sprinting to victory in Locarno on stage two of the men's Tour de Suisse.

The Frenchman was part of a 14-rider escape that dominated the day. With a brace of small but tricky climbs immediately preceding the finish the break split apart and was almost caught as Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and his fellow GC riders began their inevitable rampage.

But six riders held on to contest the win, with Pogačar, accompanied by Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), finishing just four seconds back. The Slovenian held on to his yellow jersey, and now leads EF Education-EasyPost's Richard Carapaz by 2:50, with Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) a further 17 seconds in arrears.

Afterwards Grégoire described the day as "really hard", and said that there was little he and his breakaway companions could do as Pogačar's trio ate up their lead from behind.

"We couldn't do anything," he said, "we were just full gas, we couldn't accelerate. We just had to wait and wish that he won't be able to come back. And finally it was [close] but we did it."

Today was the 23-year-old's second Tour de Suisse stage win – he took one last year too. It was a race that suited him, he said: "It's a race I like a lot – the [stage] profiles are really good for me and it's a moment of the year when I have good legs."

The 157.7km stage started and finished in Locarno, and featured the same double-climb finish as the stage two of the Tour de Suisse Women, which was held this morning and won by Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ). Just like the women's race the final quarter of the men's stage was an all-action affair in which numerous protagonists knocked seven bells out of each other without relent.

Up until then the race had been set steady, with a 14-rider break maintaining a small gap for much of the day. It was a solid looking group, featuring among others Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek), Julan Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), Giro d'Italia star Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), Fred Wright (Pinarello-Q36.5) and of course Grégoire.

As the first of the back-to-back climbs approached, the break was all together and more than two minutes ahead. But with UAE Team Emirates-XRG stepping up the pace behind, the gap began to fall. By the time the 3.5km ascent was crested, the peloton had been strung out to breaking point, led by Pogačar, teammate Jhonatan Narvaez, and Vacek, the breakaway had split in two, and its lead had been halved.

After a short descent the race hit the steep, 1.4km slopes of the Via Consiglio Mezzano. With the reduced breakaway pounding the pedals ahead, shedding riders here and there, Pogačar attempted to launch Narvaez for the stage win. But it was without success: the Ecuadorian blew up. And so the Slovenian did what any win-hungry champion would do – attacked himself.

With Vacek somehow holding on, the pair picked up breakaway dropout Eulálio as they sliced into the time gap of the leaders. All of the front runners stayed upright down a technical urban descent and then it was into the centre of Locarno, wide roads giving hunters a glimpse of quarry, quarry a glimpse of hunters.

Going into the final kilometre the gap was just 10 seconds and the result hung in the balance. But the leaders had enough in the tank, and enough will to win, to pull off one final surge to the line, from which Grégoire walked away with the spoils.

ResultTour de Suisse, stage 2Locarno > Locarno, 157.7km

1. Romain Grégoire (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United, 157.7km in 3:26:25
2. Marcel Camprubí (Spa) Pinarello-Q36.5
3. Bart Lemmen (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
4. Filippo Zana (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step, all s.t.
5. Finlay Pickering (Gbr) Jayco AlUla, +2s
6. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +4s
7. Emiel Verstrynge (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech
8. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, both s.t.
9. Afonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, +9s
10. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +32s

General Classification after stage 2

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 6:55:02
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:50
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +3:07
4. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +4:16
5. Finlay Pickering (Gbr) Jayco AlUla, +4:41
6. Ilan van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:44
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
8. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, at s.t.
9. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Decathlon CMA CGM, +5:11
10. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +5:12

Tadej Pogačar made a 70km solo attack look like a coffee ride on Wednesday, when he sailed to victory on stage one of the Tour de Suisse.

The world champion peeled off the front of the peloton on an uncategorised climb, set up by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Brandon McNulty, with 71.7km to go. He then stretched out his advantage to more than two minutes to claim the leader’s jersey and his tenth win of the season.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) finished second, Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) third.

"This was definitely not the plan, but somehow it worked, thanks to my team-mates, I think," Pogačar said afterwards. "Without them blocking at the back, setting the pace before, this wouldn’t be possible.”

At points, Pogačar seemed almost confused by how effortlessly he drew the gap out. He checked regularly over his shoulder, perhaps expecting to see a group in pursuit, but all he saw was open road.

"I didn’t have a radio [at the time of the attack], so I didn’t know what was going on in the back, so I just kept riding hard," he said.

"Once I knew the gap was quite big, I could settle into the rhythm and try to hold it to the finish, which was super long and really hard, but was also, at the same time, quite technical, so it was really nice to be alone.”

The victory, and the seemingly offhand nature of it, sent a warning message to Pogačar’s rivals at next month's Tour de France: this is a rider who can win at will, and with ease. He has now collected 10 victories in just 12 race days this season, the lion’s share coming at May’s Tour de Romandie, his last race, where he won four stages and the general classification.

This year’s Tour de Suisse has been reduced from eight stages to five, bringing it in line with the women’s race, which is taking place concurrently. Visma-Lease a Bike’s Femke de Vries won stage one on Wednesday morning.

The opening stage of the men’s race took place entirely in northern Italy, on a thin loop tracing the Adda river, starting and finishing in Sondrio.

Uno-X’s Fredrik Dversnes began the day with a solo jaunt. That ended when the Norwegian was tagged and passed by Pogačar, who rode away comfortably, like Godzilla destroying a city, then wondering where all the rubble came from.

It would take another 20km before a rider dared to chase the world champion. Carapaz, whether he believed he could catch him or not, sprung out of the chase group, where Pogačar's lieutenants Felix Großschartner, Jhonatan Narváez, and Brandon McNulty patrolled the pack.

The Ecuadorian went on to earn second place for his effort, but not without the fright of Bagioli behind him, who finished just 15 seconds adrift. The rest of the GC favourites, including Primož Roglič (Red-Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), all lost more than four minutes to Pogačar.

Thursday's second stage of the Tour de Suisse will see the race return to Switzerland, on an undulating route out of and back into Locarno.

Asked for his plan for the day, Pogačar said: “Stay safe and keep the jersey. We have a strong team, so we can try and go for the stage with Jonny, Brandon, Felix or anybody else. We’ll see how the guys feel.”

Results

Tour de Suisse 2026, stage one: Sondrio > Sondrio (144km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:28:51
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:14
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:29
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:02
5. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek
6. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time
8. Felix Großschartner (Aut) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +4:05
9. AJ August (Netcompany-Ineos), +4:30
10. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, at same time

General classification after stage one

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:28:51
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:22
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:39
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:16
5. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek
6. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time
8. Felix Großschartner (Aut) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +4:18
9. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Decathlon CMA CGM, +4:43
10. AJ August (Netcompany-Ineos), +4:44

The Giro-Tour double has long been one of cycling’s most coveted achievements. Winning two Grand Tours in one year is a sign of a rider's dominance, and unsurprisingly the list of those who have achieved it is a list of the greatest cyclists of all time. Eight male riders have managed to win both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in one season, and two female riders, although that is a list that will grow thanks to the date change for the women's Giro and reinvention of the Tour de France Femmes.

The first rider to achieve the feat was the great Fausto Coppi. The Italian was an icon, famed for his movie star good looks, and the first rider to dominate the sport and win races across Europe. The last rider to win both was Demi Vollering.

Since the turn of the century the Giro/Tour double had been considered impossible in modern cycling, as the likes of Alberto Contador and Chris Froome - the two best GC riders of their generation with multiple wins between them - both failed to do it during their careers.

Although Froome did do the Tour/Vuelta double in 2017, and in 2018 won the Giro, meaning he held all three Grand Tour titles at the same time. Weeks later he finished third in the 2018 Tour behind team mate Geraint Thomas and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin.

The difficulty of winning both is in part down to the time in between the two races. Just the month of June separates them, and while this is plenty of time for a rider to recover, the challenge is for a rider to maintain their form from the beginning of May through to the end of July. Any rider attempting the Giro/Tour double knows that just one bad day out of 42 race days can end their attempt.

*Completed the Triple Crown by also winning the UCI road race World Championships

Annemiek van Vleuten became the first woman to win the Giro/Tour double in 2022, although this list of one is not through a lack of female riders good enough to do it, but through a lack of opportunity. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift returned to the women's calendar in 2022 after a decade long campaign, and even then, the dates weren't helpful.

That year the ten-day Giro d'Italia Donne finished on July 10 and the Tour de France Femmes began just 14 days later on July 24. Van Vleuten was however more than capable of winning both in a year where she barely finished outside of the top five in every race she started. To make her achievement even more impressive, she won the Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta in mid September. Although at the time, the women's third Grand Tour was only five stages long.

This year the Giro d'Italia Women moved dates, starting on May 30th, and finishing on June 7th, giving riders eight weeks between the two races. No sooner was this announced than Demi Vollering went public with her aim to win both, which she duly did.

Male riders who have achieved the Giro / Tour double

Fausto Coppi

'Il Campionissimo' needs no introduction. Fausto Coppi is one of the most iconic and legendary cyclists of all time and, long after his untimely death, his name still carries a mythical status in the sport given his extensive list of achievements during his career.

Coppi was the first rider to ever win the Giro/Tour double, and ended up winning both races in the same year on two different occasions.

The first occasion was in 1949 while riding for the Italian national team. Coppi initially sustained a huge time deficit in the Tour after crashing heavily in the earlier stages, but he would go on to claw the time back in the high mountains as the race progressed.

He went on to win the race’s penultimate day time trial in Nancy which ensured that he would triumph at the Tour, on debut, and become the first rider to achieve the Giro-Tour double in the same season in the process, a feat he would go on to match three years later.

Jacques Anquetil  

Five Tour victories and two Giro triumphs make up just part of the great Jacques Anquetil’s list of achievements, but 1964 was arguably the Normandy-born rider’s crowning moment of his career.

Anquetil had already won the Giro previously in 1960, but going into the Italian Grand Tour that year he was among a select group of foreign hopefuls for the maglia rosa who all had the potential to upset the home support looking to witness an Italian triumph in their own backyard.

Riding for the Saint-Raphaël team that eventually inspired the well known kit brand Rapha, Anquetil took a stage win early on which saw him pull on pink before holding it all the way through to the finish.

A few weeks later at the Tour, Anquetil was very nearly denied his fifth Tour victory by Raymond Poulidor, who pushed him all the way to the end, cutting Anquetil’s lead to almost nothing. But Anquetil would eventually prevail, beating Poulidor in the race’s final time trial to ensure that he would win his fifth and final Tour de France by 55 seconds and achieve the double.

Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx holds the record for the most Giro/Tour doubles achieved during his career, an achievement truly befitting of a man nicknamed the Cannibal.

The Belgian great first pulled off the double in 1970, before going on to add a second and third in 1972 and 1974. His first Giro d’Italia was arguably unexpected after he had suffered with a knee injury for much of the race and illness beforehand.

However, after winning stage two, Merckx then went on to win three more stages as his fitness developed during the race. He then won a second successive Tour de France later that summer. Merckx then held off several challenges in 1972 at the Tour from France’s Raymond Poulidor and Felice Gimondi of Italy in order to ensure that he landed yet another double. Merckx’s eventual winning margin stood at more than ten minutes.

Merckx’s 1974 Giro win was a closely run affair. The Belgian won the Corsa Rosa by just 12 seconds that year and was made to wait until stage 12 for his first victory of the race, a 25 mile individual time trial on stage 12. He then won the Tour by 8:04 ahead of Poulidor.

Bernard Hinault

'The Badger' is the next man to have completed the double on more than one occasion, winning both the Giro and Tour in 1982 and 1985. Remarkably, the French legend won nearly all of the Grand Tours he ever participated in.

During his career, he competed in three editions of the Giro and two editions of the Vuelta a España, winning all five races. Hinault also won on five out of eight appearances at the Tour de France, making him part of a select club of riders to have won the Tour on five occasions.

The 1982 Tour saw Hinault take four stages on his way to victory in Paris. Three of those were individual time trials, one being the race’s prologue in Basel, before he then went on to win the race’s final stage in Paris on the Champs-Élysées.

Three years later, the Tour was a much more closely run affair. Hinault only managed two stage wins - both coming in time trials once again, before going on to win the race overall by 1:42 ahead of his La Vie Claire teammate, Greg LeMond.

Stephen Roche

Stephen Roche is one of only two former pro cyclists to achieve the unthinkable, winning cycling’s triple crown - the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and road World Championships - all in the same season.

The Irishman only won the Tour on one occasion, but coming in the middle of his triple crown, it shouldn’t be underestimated. Interestingly Roche has previously said that it was never the plan to win all three events in the same year, everything just seemed to fall into place at the right time to enable him to do so.

Roche took the pink jersey during part b of the race’s first stage, a short individual time trial from the Poggio near San Remo into the middle of the town. The second part of the stage was a mere five kilometres in length, but that didn’t prevent Roche from laying down the law and claiming pink. Roche then won the final day longer time trial into Turin to wrap up the overall victory by more than three minutes.

Later that year, Roche was pushed all the way to the penultimate day time trial by Pedro Delgado during the Tour. Roche won an 87km time trial on stage ten before he then lost the yellow jersey with the end in sight. The Irishman clawed back enough time during the penultimate stage to pull on yellow once more ahead of the race wrapping up in Paris.

Miguel Induráin

Induráin is the only man to have ever completed the double in two consecutive seasons, winning both the Tour and Giro in 1992 and 1993. The Spaniard also won the Tour five years in a row with his time trialling prowess setting him well on the way to victory in each.

During his first Giro triumph, it was two time trial wins that got him over the line, including a 41 mile effort into Milan on the race’s final day.

Induráin then won all three of the Tour’s time trials later that year before eventually claiming yellow in Paris. He then replicated that accomplishment the following year, winning all four of the time trials on offer across both Grand Tours on his way to overall victory in each.

On retirement, Induráin’s stage win total stood at 16 in both the Giro and Tour with most of those being on aero bars. As well as his wins in both Italy and France, his time trial mastery also saw him claim the world title in 1995, before going on to land an Olympic gold medal in the discipline a year later.

Marco Pantani

Marco Pantani is possibly one of the most written about cyclists of all time, mainly due to his troubled private life which culminated in his tragic and untimely death in 2004 aged just 34.

In his prime, Pantani was regarded as being one of the sport’s very best climbers, with the sight of him dancing up the slopes of some of cycling’s most iconic peaks on his celeste blue Bianchi being a joy to behold. He was also well known for his pirate bandana and earring which he sported throughout his career, earning him the nickname 'Il Pirata'.

Prior to Pogačar’s victory, Pantani was the last man to complete the Giro/Tour double in 1998. In May that year, the boy from Cesenatico got his Giro off to a slow start as he shipped time in the early stages. But once his favoured terrain arrived, Pantani put the hammer down and soon had his rivals begging for mercy. Two mountain top stage wins at Piancavallo and Montecampione helped the Pirate eventually land the pink jersey in Milan.

Two months later the Tour began in Ireland with Chris Boardman winning the prologue and pulling on yellow. Pantani had to wait until stage 11 to Plateau de Beille to make his mark. The Italian obliterated his rivals to win the stage and set a record time for the ascent in the process. He was made to wait before he could pull on the yellow jersey, but victory on stage 15 at Les Deux Alpes, when leader Jan Ullrich suffered in the cold and rain through the mountains, was enough to see Pantani take the leader’s jersey and eventually win the Tour.

Controversy dogged the race that year, with the Festina doping scandal threatening to discredit the entire sport. Use of EPO was rife - Pantani was kicked off the 1999 Giro for having a high haematocrit (a measure used before a test for EPO was developed) - and the UCI was scrambling to keep up with the cheats. Rider protests threatened the Tour's very existence and many teams and riders were kicked out, or pulled themselves out. All of which left a cloud over Pantani's win.

Tadej Pogačar

It says everything about the Slovenian that he made the impossible look decidedly straight forward in 2024. Having already won Strade Bianche, the Tour of Catalunya, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège he breezed through the Giro d'Italia winning by nine minutes and 56 seconds (the biggest winning margin since 1965) from Daniel Martínez (Bora Hansgrohe), having worn the leaders pink jersey from stage two, taking six stage victories on the way and seemingly taking his foot off the gas in the final stages with his Tour challenge already in mind.

His Tour win was almost as dominant. He beat Jonas Vingegaard, who had won the previous two editions, by six minutes 17 seconds, took the yellow jersey on stage two, relinquished it on stage three only to win it back on stage four and wear it until the finish in Nice. And take six stages along the way.

Even though Vingegaard had a disrupted build up thanks to being caught up in a horrorific crash at the Tour of the Basque country that spring, Pogačar was clearly unbeatable. He then went on to become the third male rider in history to achieve the triple crown - winning the Giro, Tour and UCI road race world title in the same year. The latter with a jaw-dropping 101km break away.

He did however sit out the Paris Olympics that started just one week after the Tour, citing exhaustion. He also won the GP Cycliste de Montréal, Giro dell'Emilia and Il Lombardia before and after the world championships.

Female riders who have achieved the Giro / Tour double

Annemiek van Vleuten

Van Vleuten has won the Giro Donne on four occasions, but it was in 2022 that she won both the Giro and the Tour de France Femmes in the same year. She may not have won two three-week Grand Tours with just a month off in between, but she beat some formidable opposition on the way to her two victories. It is as good as you can get in women's cycling.

Looking at her Tour win in particular, she put the likes of Demi Vollering and Elisa Longo Borghini to the sword on the way to victory in the race’s inaugural edition, a landmark achievement for women’s cycling.

It was on stage three of the Giro that the Dutchwoman took her the first step towards her third overall victory. Van Vleuten won a hilly stage on a circuit around Cesena before going on to win in the mountains around Aldeno on stage seven which was enough to get the job done and secure the overall title.

During the Tour she had to leave it late to snatch the yellow jersey. Marianne Vos held the overall lead going into the final two mountain stages, but Van Vleuten wrestled it from her shoulders by taking wins at Le Markstein and Planche des Belles Filles.

Van Vleuten’s palmarès also matches any male rider on this list, particularly due to her four world titles and Olympic gold medal. She was simply a force to be reckoned with during her career and as a result, she thoroughly deserves her place alongside Pogačar, Merckx and company as a true winner of the Giro-Tour double.

Demi Vollering

Despite being a prolific winner since 2021, 2026 will go down as Vollering's finest season to date with a list of wins that not only included the Giro and the Tour, but Omloop Nieuwsblad, the Tour of Flanders, Fleche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Both her Grand Tour wins this year came courtesy of a level of patience that can only be afforded by those with complete confidence in their form. She took the Giro's pink jersey on the final day when she cracked her former teammate and coach Anna van der Breggen, and the Tour's yellow jersey on the penultimate stage when she overturned the slim lead Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney had built with her win on Mont Ventoux.

Tadej Pogačar proved that he can just about win in any situation on Thursday as he won stage two of the Tour of Romandie in a reduced bunch sprint.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider was part of a significant 32-rider group which made it to the finish after a lumpy stage and timed his sprint to perfection to beat Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers). Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) finished third.

He had survived as riders put in attacks on the final climb, including from Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

It was the second victory in a row for Pogačar, who extended his lead in the yellow jersey as a result. Three stages remain of the race, with the odds of the Slovenian winning every stage now shortened. While Pogačar winning a sprint seems remarkable, it was a front group made up of mostly climbers, in a race almost without any sprinters of not, apart from Godon, who was beaten into second.

"We knew the final lap, we did it three times, and I knew the sprint was going to be tough because of the climbs before," Pogačar said on TV post-stage. "It was indeed, a super-fast climb with a tailwind. The sprint was pretty much headwind and quite downhill, so you couldn't be too much in front. I was, the last corner, too much in front, and suddenly some guys came, and they were too early, and that was an advantage for me."

Asked if the final climb of Vuillens, which they had ascended thrice, was decisive, he said: "To make the difference in time gaps no, but it makes the difference in the legs. If you go over the limit then for sure it's hard to do a good sprint. Luckily for me it was under control and I could still do a good sprint."

No collaboration? No problem. Tadej Pogačar made it look easy on stage one of the Tour de Romandie, outsprinting his three breakaway rivals despite having to do much of the work in the closing stages of the 171km stage, based on Martigny.

Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) attacked with 39km to go on the day's big climb of Ovronnaz, which the riders crested with 22km of the stage to go. A break was formed with Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and, eventually, Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Apparently content to hang with his fellow escapees over the climb, Pogačar took on much of the responsibility of driving the break all the way to the finish, before winning the sprint by several bike lengths.

The Slovenian now takes over the lead from Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers).

Speaking after the race, Pogačar said: "I did not plan anything, but it was nice to take the win against youngsters. It was a really nice race, a really quick day and I was happy with the win in the sprint."

Asked about his decision not to attack the break on the climb, he said he was happy to benefit from the help of his fellow riders, though remarked pointedly on the decision of Lipowitz – who had team-mate Primož Roglič chasing behind – not to contribute.

"The last 22k was headwind... to try to do something would be very stupid. I was happy to have two young, eager guys to pull with me. They did a super good job, they were very strong. We managed to stay in front which was still difficult with only three, and one guy sitting in the wheels it's always harder to stay in front."

Speaking about his own team and their GC aspirations, Pogačar added: "It was all on us all day. The team did a super good job, so also for that I'm super happy to take the yellow. We will try to defend it every stage. They say the best defence is to attack, so we will see how we approach the next days."

With all of yesterday's top 10 losing time, the GC was rewritten, with the breakaway taking the first slots, and riders including Roglič (6th) and Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious, 7th) also present.

Results to follow...

Tour de Romandie stage 1: Martigny > Martigny, 171km

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 171km in 3:56:55
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
3. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious
4. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Albert Withen Philipsen (Den) Lidl-Trek, +21s
6. Sergio Higuita (Col) XDS-Astana
7. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
8. Junior Lecerf (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
9. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco-AlUla
10. Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda (Ecu) Movistar, all at same time

GC after stage 1

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:00:27
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +7s
3. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +16s
4. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike, +23s
5. Albert Withen Philipsen (Den) Lidl-Trek, +31s
6. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +32s
7. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +41s
8. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
9. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, all at same time
10. Luke Tuckwell (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +42s

Many lines of copy have been written about French teen sensation Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) over the past few months – much of it predicting world domination at some point in the future. While the sceptics might be tempted to brush those predictions off as so much media hype, it's worth pointing out that the media is not alone.

Tadej Pogačar is the latest to throw his hat into the Seixas cheerleading ring, following a Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday in which he was pushed all the way by the young Frenchman, with Pogačar eventually dropping Seixas on the final climb.

He said he expected Seixas to continue improving until he eventually "destroys everybody" – although it feels as though he has the measure of just about everybody already, the Slovenian excepted.

"Having Paul entering such a big field at such a good level already at 19, it brings motivation to everybody else now to keep trying to improve," said Pogacar, as reported by France24. "Because, again, he's 19 now and normally your body physically is the best at 26 to 30 years old.

"So, we'll see. We keep working hard to still try to fight for the next years to win as much as we can until he destroys everybody!"

In turn Seixas poured praise on Pogačar, calling him "the greatest rider of all time". Asked what he needed to do to beat him, he said: "Power! That seems obvious," said Seixas. "I just have to improve but we can see his level, it's extremely difficult to follow him. He's the greatest rider of all time."

He added: "There's more work to do but that's normal. You can't skip the steps so we'll just be satisfied with that today," he said of his runner-up place in the Ardennes Monument.

Liège was not the first time that Pogačar and Seixas have gone toe to toe at the end of a major hilly race this season. At Strade Bianche, Seixas was the last to be dropped by Pogačar before he embarked on what turned out to be 79km solo break to win. The French rider then went on to better Pogačar's team-mate Isaac Del Toro in the run-in to Siena.

Liège saw Seixas fare even better, hanging with the Slovenian after he attacked on La Redoute at 35km to go, and only meeting his match on the final climb, the Roche aux Faucons, with 14km to the line.

It grew from a rumble, a low chorus of a group in suspense. Wout van Aert was on Pogačar’s wheel in the Roubaix velodrome and people weren’t daring to hope - yet. Another few turns of the pedals and Van Aert was pushing ahead of Pogačar. The crowd roared.

But this chorus of joy wasn't playing out in Northern France, or in a small bar in Flanders. I’d just walked into Herne Hill Velodrome’s club room in South London with three precious minutes of race time left, and the atmosphere was electric.

Riders in multicoloured jerseys and cycling caps crossed with team names cluttered the room, all eyes trained on the small TV in front of them. The coffee machine whirred somewhere just behind the action, as time trial taster sessions rolled around the velodrome outside. Emily Stainer was, for the first time all afternoon, released from coffee-making duty as the crowd locked into the most exciting racing of the year so far.

"Everyone was on [van Aert's] side - it was super, super intense in the room,” Stainer recalled, proof of the Belgian's enduring popularity. “And then he suddenly went for it.”

“It was all drama, wasn't it?” CJ said, sat just across the room from where Stainer stood watching. “Van der Poel trying to drag himself back after his two punctures on the Arenberg. There were punctures and mechanicals everywhere, people falling off here, there and everywhere.”

CJ was recovering from a cobble ride they had - along with the rest of the captivated room - finished earlier that day. The Cobblemonster ride had started out on Sunday morning from UpCYCLE in Brixton, and headed north-west, ‘blasting across some early secteurs of the smoke’s Victorian pave before tucking into the east end and its myriad lanes of snaking cobbled nadgery,’ before ending back in Herne Hill for a victory lap of the velodrome in true Roubaix-style.' All according to the website.

“The cobbles, by the way, are excellent in London,” CJ said. To demonstrate their point, they compared them to the giant cobbles in Belgium: “The first set of cobbles that I saw, I burst out laughing. They are so big that you just bounce all over the place. It's uncontrollable. You have to go as fast as you can, so that you don't hit every single cobble. So when the pro riders are doing it, they hit like one cobble in 20, because they're so fast. But because I'm not very fast, I’m bouncing all over the place.” Luckily for CJ and the Cobblemonster riders, “the London cobbles are much more manageable. They're fairly small.”

The best cobbles CJ has ridden in the capital so far criss-cross the city. There’s a stretch in Farringdon and a load around the Docklands, as well as “a really long section down Wapping High Street.” The Cobblemonster tries its best to capture as many of the city’s cobbles as possible, with each edition offering a fresh treasure trove of hidden routes.

The ride finished at Herne Hill Velodrome, in time to catch the men’s Paris-Roubaix race - but not before the group did their own velodrome-finish. Unbeknownst to CJ, their final straight was about to imitate Van Aert’s own victory-lap, as their friend hung to their wheel only to overtake with metres left to sprint.

What is it about Paris-Roubaix that makes it such a special race, I asked Stainer, herself new to the world of professional racing. “Me and my friend were watching the Tour of Flanders the other week, and we were just like, well, this is going to be really boring, because it was basically decided who's going to win with an hour to go,” she said. “It felt like we couldn’t get excited about it.” Roubaix, on the other hand has a roster of underdog-victors, from Mathew Hayman to Johan Vansummeren.

Herne Hill Velodrome is a particularly special place to watch Paris-Roubaix. It is, after all, the home of VC Londres, Fred Wright’s first club. Though he finished 132nd this year, hopes had been high after finishing 9th last year. The 454 metre velodrome was where he first competed, in the track league alongside his dad as a kid, and where fans and family still come out to cheer him on, whether he’s riding on the track outside or beamed into the telly.

Maybe it was the collective post-ride high that gave the room such a buzz on Sunday, maybe it was the objective thrill of Paris-Roubaix, its unique capacity to produce race-long drama, maybe it was the fact that everyone was experiencing the race together - everyone in that room locked into the same drama. It was, if nothing more, a reminder of the importance of third spaces, where people can come together to celebrate and to share.

The only improvement to the day would have been more women in the crowd, a feeling CJ shared too, stressing the accessibility of an event like the Cobblemonster - no matter how alarming its name. "You always find that there's more blokes going to these things," they said. "[Other riders] might look at the distance and think, Oh, that's a long way. But it's such a chilled, relaxed ride."

But back in Herne Hill, Van Aert had won and I'd entered the pavilion just in time to witness the wall of sound that seemed to shift him across the line. Then as quick as the silence turned into screaming, chairs were scraped away, the telly switched off (before the women’s race could be streamed) and all trace of the day's event cleared to make way for the children’s birthday party about to head through the double doors.

'The Hell of the North leads to paradise'. That is the title that new Paris-Roubaix champion Wout van Aert gave to the Strava activity he posted up for the race, although he wrote it in French: 'L'Enfer du Nord mène au paradis'.

Next to it the Belgian added a pair of emojis – a finger pointing skyward, and a champion's cup. The former is a replication of the Visma-Lease a Bike rider's winning gesture, in which he remembered his Verandas Willems team-mate Michael Goolaerts, who passed away during the 2018 edition.

Unsurprisingly, Van Aert's Strava entry is paired with that of runner-up Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), whose attacks the Belgian spent much of the sharp end of the race fending off. In Pogačar's case, his weary lack of jubilation is written all over the rather more prosaic entry title – 'Cycling'.

'Tadej Pogačar Pogi rode with Wout van Aert', Strava tells us, as if the pair had popped out for a bit of lunch time fresh air, rather than made history in one of the world's most revered bike races.

Strava credits Van Aert with numerous KoMs on the way to victory, including the rarely-used Briastre sector, the Wandignies sector (covered at 52kph, no less), and the mammoth Sector 17 [Hornaing] to Roubaix – 80km covered in 1hr 47min.

There was also a string of PRs, reflecting an incredible record average speed for the race of 48.9kph (30.4mph), that saw the 258km polished off in a scant 5hr 16min.

Pogačar also took a few KoMs to add to his extensive set, including the Beuvry-la-foret to Orchies sector – a crown he shares with Van Aert's team-mate Christophe Laporte, Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon CMA CGM) and yesterday's third place, Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step).

Van Aert's ride has gained Strava kudos from 119,504 people, Pogačar's 75,041. However, neither man has furnished us with what would have been the icing on the Strava cake – their power figures. In a race like yesterday's when they were pushing so hard for so long, the wattages would no doubt have been double-take impressive.

Sadly for fans, such things are the stuff of trade secrets, although Pogačar has posted his on occasion, as well as telling an interviewer that his zone two rates at 320-340 watts.

For a day or three at least, neither rider is likely to be pushing too hard on the pedals as they recover, Pogačar in readiness for next Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Van Aert for what's currently his next scheduled race, the newly named Tour Auvergne-Rhône Alpes (formerly Critérium du Dauphiné) in June.

Tadej Pogačar has been in this situation before. Sitting cross-armed in front of the media, his bottom lip is lined with dry mud, his eyebrows bushy with dust. The first question in the press conference comes, and the world champion replies with eight words: “I feel good. I was happy with today.” The reporter, stumped by the brevity, follows up with another. “Are you not tired?” he asks. This time, Pogačar just shrugs and smiles – his weary eyes give as clear an answer as any words could.

The prophecy told that Tadej Pogačar would win Paris-Roubaix. For months, he was touted as the chosen one: the boy from Klanec – a leafy Slovenian village with one restaurant and a population fewer than 350 – who was destined to become the first rider since Roger De Vlaeminck in 1977 to win all five Monuments. He might still, but for now at least, his shot at history has been deferred.

Just half a second separated Pogačar from Monument immortality inside the Roubaix velodrome on Sunday. There was a roar from the crowd when he led Visma-Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert into the concrete bowl, and another, louder roar when Van Aert kicked away from him round the final bend, to win by the length of his shadow.

Humble in defeat, Pogačar is quick to praise the rider he spent the last 50km alongside. “He [Van Aert] deserves the victory,” Pogačar says, and his brief, downbeat figure gives way to thoughtful reflection. “Every time I tried [to get rid of him], my legs were not the greatest anymore. I always saw him really riding on my wheel. He was so strong that I could feel it was just not meant to be today to drop him.”

Pogačar’s race truly began with 120km remaining. Victim of a puncture before the Arenberg Forest, he scrambled onto a Shimano neutral service bike, lost almost a minute to his rivals, but chased back to the front, swapping for a spare bike he took from the roof of his team car.

“Today was a lot of flat tyres,” he says bluntly. “First I was riding with a front tyre half flat, and then I broke the wheel on the back and I couldn’t ride anymore. I got the Shimano bike and it was big gaps across the groups.”

By the time Pogačar reached the Arenberg, he was feeling, in his words, “a little bit bananas”. He passed through the race’s most daunting sector unscathed, but his misfortune didn’t end there; a second puncture, and a third bike change, came with 72km to go, and he found himself in a dash to hold off his Classics rival Mathieu van der Poel, who ultimately wouldn’t claw back his own flat-tyred woes.

The stress of the efforts, it’s clear, took it out of the world champion. “Always when you have problems you waste a little bit of energy and it’s like this,” he says. “I don’t regret anything. It’s how this race goes.”

Was there anything he feels could have done differently? “There’s always something that you could do differently. Right now, so close after the race, I think I did all my best, but maybe tomorrow, after the dust settles, we will maybe analyse and see what I could have done better. I think in such a chaotic race, I did pretty good. I gave my best. No regrets, for sure.”

An hour after his press conference, Pogačar reemerged under the sun in the Roubaix velodrome to a ripple of applause. His face was now clean, thanks to a visit to the famous showers, and his clothes fresh from the team bus. He then sat down on the grassy infield, laughing with his family and friends, as he waited for the podium ceremony to begin.

The bitter aftermath of the result had vanished. No, it wasn’t meant to be this time, but there will be another chance, and another, for as long as his will allows.

“I think I will be back, maybe not next year, but I still have a few years of my career I hope,” he reassured the press. “I will try to come back and give it a go again.”

Already a winner of Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia, Pogačar's date with Roubaix destiny remains academic. His face may not appear on the Mount Rushmore of Monument winners just yet, but, after a second, closer runner-up place, there's a feeling his portrait in the granite is waiting.

"The cobbles, the stress on the body, it’s definitely one of the roughest, toughest, hardest races I’ve done. I think I gained some experience that maybe next time that I come here it will not be so extremely hard as it was today."

Almost 365 days ago, that was Tadej Pogačar's verdict after his debut Paris-Roubaix, where he finished second, looking as exhausted as I have ever seen him after a race. It wasn't the buoyant, jokey man we have all become used to, but someone who had been put through the wringer.

He finished second that day, behind Mathieu van der Poel, after a performance which belied any kind of conception of what we thought about the 'Hell of the North'. We might have expected the supreme race-craft, the positioning and the power, but this was a Tour de France winner, a climber, going toe-to-toe with Van der Poel, without any experience of the race. He did crash, possibly showing his naivety, but he still finished second, beating Classics specialists like Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert.

Last year it felt like an adventure, almost a free hit – we didn't know what to expect, so second place was huge, a confirmation that yes, the Slovenian could do something not seen since 1981, and win both the Tour and Roubaix.

This year is different. There is pressure on the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider, because we all know he could win. Forget question marks over his knowledge of the race, over whether he's heavy enough to perform on the pavé or whether a general classification rider could look at home in the biggest Classic of them all.

It is now a serious possibility, maybe even 50:50, that Pogačar will win Paris-Roubaix. He is no longer a wildcard, an outsider, and could become the first person since Roger De Vlaeminck in 1977 to win all five Monuments, and become the first person ever to be the champion of all five at the same time. Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia last year, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders in 2026. There is only one left. I will not be surprised if he wins. That would have once sounded ridiculous, but no more.

The 27-year-old goes into almost every race as the favourite, so this is nothing new for him, but it will change the perception of the race. His rivals can look to him and his team to pull, to chase every move, to be in charge of the race, essentially. A moment of inattention could result in an incident like last year's minor crash, or something altogether more serious. The stress will be real.

It is not a done deal, however, no fait accompli. This isn't Flanders, Strade Bianche, or Lombardia, races that suit Pogačar to an overwhelming extent. There is the chaos of the cobbles, and also the 170 riders in the race to contend with. Van der Poel of Alpecin-Premier Tech is top of the pile of these, with three wins in a row; he appears to be able to power through the race unlike anyone else, and has sprinter Jasper Philipsen as a teammate to muddy the waters in any chase. The Dutchman is chasing legendary status himself, with the opportunity to be the first person to win four in a row.

The race itself is incredibly flat, for a WorldTour event anyway. There isn't a clear route to victory for Pogačar, no Oude Kwaremont or Le Tolfe to climb away on.

"Maybe the best [thing] would be to attack with surprise, but I don’t think I can do that anymore. Everybody’s looking at me," Pogačar told Cycling Weekly earlier this year. "I’ll just go with the flow, see where the race takes me, and try to gamble for the final maybe, with a small group sprint. I know after such a tough race I can do, for me, a solid sprint. There’s always a chance."

Beyond Van der Poel and Philipsen, Lidl-Trek's Pedersen has finished on the podium of the last two editions, and is coming back into top form, while Van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike is surely due another shot at victory at the race which probably suits him more than any other.

There's Ineos Grenadiers' Filippo Ganna, former world time trial champion, and winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen this year, and strong sprinters like Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and late addition Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step). There is also a sense that the race is due a surprise winner, something not unusual at the mayhem in Northern France. It's 10 years since Mat Hayman won, after all.

However, there is something inevitable about Pogačar, something that just feels right. If he wins – if – it might not be a surprise, it would not scramble our brains, but perhaps it should. Riders in 2026 aren't supposed to be able to win it all, but somehow the Slovenian can and is. All we have to do now is sit back and watch history happen.

The news this week - beyond Tadej Pogačar and Demi Vollering's Tour of Flanders victories - has been dominated with small c crime. 54 riders are being investigated for crossing train tracks while a red light was showing during the Flemish race, and people have been stealing cobbles from the Paris-Roubaix course. Both offences could put riders in real, serious danger. Fortunately for those set to compete at Paris-Roubaix, Jonas Abrahamsen and his team Uno-X Mobility have been out on the cobbles with their magnifying glasses making sure everything is ship shape for Sunday.

The third Monument of the season is set to start at 9:30 UK time for the men's and 16:00 for the women's on Sunday 12th April. Could Tadej Pogačar equal Mathieu van der Poel's three-time title? Might Demi Vollering continue her Flanders form and bag another cobbled monument? Either way, the cobbles will be pristine - all thanks to a bunch of goats.

1. It’s news to me, but some of the core workmen gruelling over the Paris-Roubaix cobbles are actually goats. The herd - around 40 strong - take to the cobbles every year as a form of 'eco-grazing', removing the need for chemical weed killers.

2. Buona Pasqua! Cyclist and social media influencer Elisa Scarlatta took to the Italian streets to spread some Easter joy last weekend - featuring the cutest crochet (?) bike/egg bag.

3. Scarlatta wasn’t the only one delivering chocolate to her fellow cyclists this weekend. SD Worx-Protime’s limited edition easter bunny mascot was doing the rounds this year at the Tour of Flanders.

4. For what Zoe Bäckstedt lacks in general knowledge she makes up in race results: after the interview, she blasted into fifth place at the Tour of Flanders, just behind last year’s winner, Lotte Kopecky.

5. One of the most scandalous things to have happened at the Tour of Flanders this year was a surprisingly common cycling phenomenon: a jumped red light. The peloton was divided after a train passed over a level crossing, splitting Tadej Pogačar and 54 others from a pack that included Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. Now those 50-plus riders could face fines by the Belgian public prosecutor’s office for the traffic offence.

6. Featuring in both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Ronde, the Muur van Geraardsbergen is not for the faint of heart: 910 metres of climbing at an average incline of 9%, maxing out at 20%. It’s even harder if you’ve got a dog strapped to your back.

7. Ahead of the last cobbled Classic of the season this weekend, here’s a reminder of what not to do from the side lines. (This is a wince-inducing watch.)

8. Jonas Abrahamsen and Uno-X Mobility are taking no risks this weekend as he prepares to race Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

9. Mathew Hayman: everyone’s favourite Paris-Roubaix winner. In 2016, the Aussie took victory in France after breaking his arm just six weeks earlier.

10. A bonus pic for my fellow goat fans. Unfortunately, they won’t be featuring on race day.

Tadej Pogačar's dominance is so powerful and unswerving that it goes beyond demotivating – it takes away all hope – so says Belgian rouleur Oliver Naesen of Decathlon CMA CGM.

He was speaking on the HLN Wielerpodcast, alongside former Classics star-turned-gravel racer Greg Van Avermaet, following yet another emphatic solo victory from Pogačar at the Tour of Flanders.

"What Tadej does actually goes a step further than being demotivating," said Naesen, a former podium finisher at both Milan-San Remo and Gent-Wevelgem (now called In Flanders Fields).

"Demotivating would be a rider who is very good – you can’t drop him and he beats you in the sprint," he elaborated. But Pogačar's ability "takes away all hope; the difference is simply that big.”

The Slovenian UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider is so good, he said, that these days even the major Classics specialists like Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) were unable to hold a candle to him.

“We used to sometimes talk about a peloton at two speeds; now there are three," Naesen said, adding: “He is a 10-star rider whom even they [Van der Poel and Van Aert] can’t even dream of keeping up with if the course is a bit tougher.”

Former Paris-Roubaix champion Van Avermaet concurred.

“Where does he get his physiological advantage?" Van Avermaet said. "They really need to examine that boy thoroughly to see what makes him put together so well.”

Van Avermaet qualified his comments by pointing out that Pogačar looked drawn and very tired after his Flanders win, saying: “I could tell by his eyes, which were bright red during the flash interviews, that he had suffered quite a bit, which is not illogical.”

The Slovenian will be put to the test again this Sunday at Paris-Roubaix – one of the two Monuments that he has specifically targeted this season (the other one being Milan-San Remo, which he has already won).

As one of those on the start list, Naesen will have another chance to experience Pogačar's unique brand of demotivating skills; but Van der Poel and Van Aert, as well as Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), will all be there, hoping to prove that Pogačar is, at least sometimes, beatable.

Just over 70 kilometres into Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, 54 riders jumped a red light at a railway crossing. Now the Belgian prosecutors office is investigating the incident, which violates one of the country's most severe traffic offences.

Amongst the riders involved were race-leaders Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel, who jumped the red light before the barriers came down. The peloton was divided on either side of the railway tracks, with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert among the group caught behind the barriers.

"It was not nice," Pogačar said in the post-race press conference. "We were riding, and suddenly three guys jumped into the middle of the road and started waving to stop. How can you stop in one second?"

Nevertheless, jumping a red light comes under the most serious of Belgian traffic offences, and those found in breach of the rule could be summoned to appear in front of a police court, and could face a fine and driving ban.

“The risks to both riders and third parties are significant," the prosecutor’s office stated. “Such violations will therefore be dealt with strictly. This is unacceptable, even in a sporting context.”

The move also violates UCI rules, which state that ‘it shall be strictly forbidden to cross level crossings when the barrier is down or closing, the warning signal ringing or flashing.’ Riders who break this rule could face sanctions, a suspension of up to one month and a fine of between CHF 200 to 5,000. However, the race organisers chose not to disqualify the riders who crossed, instead slowing the following four kilometres to allow the second group to catch up.

In an interview with Wielerflits, Soudal Quick-Step's sports director, Sep Vanmarcke, emphasised Pogačar's frustration, saying: “Riders approach those crossings at around 55 kilometres per hour in a peloton. The first riders may see what’s happening, but those behind are looking at the wheel in front of them. Not everyone realises immediately that the light has turned red.

“Everyone involved, from the organisers to the authorities, knows exactly when a train is coming," he continued. "You cannot expect riders to know that. There is a shared responsibility to intervene in time and ensure safety.”

While no fines have yet been issued by the prosecutor's office, both Pogačar and Evenepoel were forced to pay up 500 and 200 Swiss Francs respectively, for littering and a 'sticky bottle' incident.

An out of court settlement may also be possible for the riders, as they await confirmation of penalties.

Tadej Pogačar's announcement last year that he had his sights on winning Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix this season was met with a certain amount of scepticism. 'Optimistic scepticism' even, in some quarters: not everybody was entirely enamoured with the two-wheeled Terminator bulldozing his way through 2026.

But here we are, four months into the season, and whether you're a fan of the Slovenian's dominance or not, dominant he is. There aren't many riders who, after just three race days in four months, could command the awe that Pogačar is doing right now. But the panache and the emphatic manner of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider's wins in what are arguably the three biggest races of the men's season so far leave room for nothing, and nobody, else.

So far, Pogačar has wrapped up Milan-San Remo, Strade Bianche and, just this weekend, the Tour of Flanders. His 17km solo escape saw him become the eighth rider to have won the race a record three times and, along with Milan-San Remo, tick off his second Monument win of the season.

As has already been pointed out, a Pogačar on this kind of form could well see him become the first rider in history to win all five Monuments in a single season. Paris-Roubaix, just days away, represents the obvious stumbling block: with no hills and riders at the mercy of a choice of slippery dust or slippery mud on the choppy pavé, Pogačar won't be in his most natural terroir and, like all the riders, will face a heightened risk of punctures and crashes. But if he does manage to cross the line first in the fabled Roubaix velodrome, only Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia remain – and, with the Slovenian having taken eight wins across the pair, they have Tadej Pogačar written all over them.

What, then, could stop Pogačar from making history by swiping the full set in one season. Well, there are a few things.

His rivals

Pogačar may be dominant, but he does get beaten, even on days when he really, really wants to win. It has happened at the Tour de France, and in Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders too. If the Slovenian finds himself on an off-day, or a little bit out of position, there are a number of rivals who could step in and take advantage.

Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling) may be recovering from his fall into a ravine at the Volta a Catalunya, but he'll be back and he has a great record in hilly one-day races, having won Strade Bianche and Amstel Gold.

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) can go one better – he has won Liège-Bastogne-Liège on two occasions and, as a card-carrying Belgian hero, is fully invested. He'll be there at Ardennes Week too, which is more than we can currently say with confidence about Pidcock.

Other riders who, on a good day, could be capable of besting Pogačar on a bad day in the hilly Classics include former LBL runner-up Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Pogačar's own team-mate Isaac del Toro (fifth at Lombardia last year) and, possibly, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM). The French rider still has much to prove but, at the rate he is progressing, could soon become Pogačar's nemesis.

Burnout

Towards the end of last year's Tour de France, an uncharacteristically gloomy Pogačar told the world that he was looking forward to the race being over. Although we now know he had a potentially race-ending knee injury, it was also revealed after the Tour that the Slovenian was mentally exhausted. His mother even talked about the vague possibility of him retiring early.

Some R&R post-Tour clearly did the trick, because he came back to win the Euros, the Worlds and Lombardia, but we had seen a vulnerable side to him that had not been on display before.

He is now experiencing the double-edged sword of success, honed to its finest edge: the more you win, the more pressure there is. So far this season he will have experienced more of that than ever before as his highly publicised desire to win Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix are pored over. It's likely at this point that joy takes a back seat to relief each time he wins a major race. Can he keep that up all season long?

'Acts of God'

Otherwise known as crashes, illness, mechanicals and punctures. It sometimes appears that the most successful riders have better luck than their rivals. But they are, of course, subject to the same rules of the universe as the rest – with a few caveats. They might be slightly less likely to crash because more and more meticulous planning has gone into ensuring that doesn't happen. Riders around them might take a little more care too – after all, who wants to be responsible for bringing Tadej Pogačar down in a season-ending crash.

But the top riders often end up racing harder, and as the likes of Jonas Vingegaard (Itzulia Basque Country 2024), Wout van Aert (Dwars door Vlaanderen 2024) and Remco Evenepoel (training crash, Dec 2024) have all demonstrated, bad luck happens to the best riders. Even Pogačar has had his fair share of crashes, including a wrist fracture in Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2023 and an unpleasant fall in the recent Milan-San Remo that left him bruised and his bike damaged.

The playing field is level too when it comes to punctures and mechnicals. Pogi's bike might get an extra look over before a big day, but then so will those of his big rivals. It's the same for illness, although given how many hands the Slovenian is forced to shake on account of his fame he might experience more viral exposure than most.

And so it's far from impossible that Pogačar's assault on the big five one-day races could be ended by a boring, run-of-the-mill piece of a bad luck. A random touch of wheels or an unfortunately placed flint. But let's hope not – not even his biggest rivals would want that.

There are probably a hundred other random occurrences that might mean Pogačar cannot win or even start one of the remaining Monuments. But those above are the corner marked 'most likely'. On the other side of the ring, in the white, blue and red corner stands Tadej Pogačar, with his immense wattages, on-bike technical ability and drive to succeed. It's going to be – literally – a Monumental battle. So far the Slovenian has given no indication that he might lose.

Often described as Merckxian in his achievements and the way he races, Tadej Pogačar made yet another bit of history on Sunday as he won the Tour of Flanders for a third time. It marked the twelfth Monument victory of his career and moved him ahead of Roger De Vlaeminck in the all-time list, meaning that he is now second only to Merckx himself.

The World Champion has been unstoppable so far this season, winning all three races that he has ridden, with victories at Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo preceding his Flandrian triumph. He has now won four consecutive Monuments and is one win away from completing the full set.

With multiple victories at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia to his name, a Paris-Roubaix cobble is the only omission from Pogačar’s Monument trophy cabinet. Having impressed on debut at last year’s race, he is set to return to the Hell of the North this weekend in the hopes of becoming only the fourth rider in history to win all of the Monuments.

If he were to win Roubaix, then he would be the only rider to ever hold all five race wins at the same time, and given his incredible record at Liège and Lombardia over the last few years, he could go on to become the first rider to win all five Monuments in a single season.

Speaking to Eurosport after his victory at Flanders, Pogačar was asked if he thought such a feat was possible, to which he replied, “In one year, I don’t know. Next week is the really tough one. I will give it a go, but it’s going to be difficult. I don’t want to think about it, but I’ll just go from race to race and enjoy Roubaix next.”

“Just to win one race, not even a Monument, is hard in cycling,” he continued. “Even if you have the best legs, everything needs to click together. Even after San Remo or today, I’m not thinking that I can win all five this year.”

Perhaps afraid of his words coming back to haunt him, or simply of jinxing it, the Slovenian rider’s objectives for the season are evident from his schedule alone, as he looks to win wherever he races.

Whatever happens, one thing seems certain: Tadej Pogačar will create yet more cycling history this season.

Everything hinges on Paris-Roubaix

If Tadej Pogačar is to win all five Monuments this season, then Paris-Roubaix will be his toughest challenge, as he has effectively shown that he can win Liège and Lombardia with his eyes closed at this point.

Of the five major one-day races, Pogačar’s characteristics are probably least suited to the Hell of the North, with his weight and size counting against him, as he is more susceptible to bouncing over the uneven cobbled roads.

The rigorous terrain did not seem to phase him too much on debut at last year’s race though, with only Mathieu van der Poel able to follow him over the pavé. It was ultimately a crash on a cobbled sector and a poorly timed puncture that put him out of contention, as he was forced to settle for second place whilst his Dutch rival soloed to victory.

Van der Poel will be his main adversary once again at this year’s race, with the likes of Mads Pedersen, Wout van Aert and Filippo Ganna also among the contenders. He will certainly have the power to match them over the cobbles, but the issue will be dropping them from his wheel if he hopes to avoid the uncertainty of a sprint in the Roubaix velodrome.

If Pogačar is able to get a gap, then it will be difficult to bring him back, as even Van der Poel struggled to make any inroads into his advantage once he went clear at the Tour of Flanders.

However, Roubaix is a different race and not always won by the strongest rider, as punctures and mechanicals are a constant. Luck will therefore be a major factor once again during this year’s race, and the Slovenian rider will need some on his side if he is to win.

One aspect that will play in Pogačar’s favour will be his team support, as UAE Team Emirates-XRG will bring a strong lineup to support the World Champion. Among their number will be former Paris-Roubaix runner-up Florian Vermeersch, who finished fifth at last year’s race and has been in tremendous form throughout the Spring Classics so far this season.

The Belgian rider will hope to be towards the front to support his leader as late into the race as possible, but it will ultimately be Pogačar’s own legs that decide the outcome of the race and whether or not history is made.