Tadej Pogacar ‘fears’ Jonas Vingegaard after Tour de France showdown on Super Planche – Bradley Wiggins podcast

A thrilling showdown to La Super Planche des Belles Filles saw Vingegaard explode clear from a select group on the last-gasp 24% gravel ramp, with only Pogacar able to follow. The pair cruelly swamped lone breakaway survivor Lennard Kamna (Bora–Hansgrohe) in the closing moments before Pogacar swung past Vingegaard to make it back-to-back victories.

The Slovenian drilled four bonus seconds into the Dane on the line as his relentless quest for a third straight yellow jersey continued, with the 23-year-old now leading the general classification from his mountain rival by 35 seconds. Britain’s Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) is in third at 1’10”.

“That was man against man. It was ‘I’m going to show you I think I’m the strongest’,” said Matt Stephens on the Eurosport podcast.

“Vingegaard can take a lot from that because it shows Pogacar fears him. Bringing him back and rolling him on the line is a mark of respect, I think it’s less respectful to give somebody the stage.

“It’s like ‘I’m giving you that because I’m more superior than you’. But no, it’s ‘I’m going to fight you to the very line here because I’m afraid of you and I don’t know how this Tour de France is going to end up.’

“Look at poor old [Primoz] Roglic the other day, he lost two and a half minutes [after a crash on the cobbled Stage 5]. You know what this Tour is like, it can turn on a sixpence. A touch of wheels, you’re down, and then the race is changed.

“Another four-second time bonus for Pogacar [over Vingegaard], as well at that stage win that he wanted, is important and what it suggests strongly is that he really, really respects Vingegaard. He said in the interviews that he thinks Vingegaard is the best climber in the world.

However, Pogacar’s latest win raised questions around cycling etiquette, with some observers suggesting Pogacar would have been wise to let Vingegaard take the stage to preserve friendships in the peloton.

“I think there’s a lot of respect between those two. But when there’s respect, you don’t give anybody a win. You’re just going to go to the line and try to beat them. I really love that,” continued Stephens.

“But there were a lot of people saying Tadej is not going to have won a lot of friends by riding in the way he did. But I think, no, he’s the strongest rider in the race.”

But 2012 Tour champion Bradley Wiggins said he was concerned for Pogacar after his last-gasp effort, saying it could paint him as a villain.

“I’m sort of stuck in the past. Initially when I watched it, it was like ‘argh’,” said Wiggins.

“If he does that now, for year after year, people will naturally want to see him get beaten. There will be a dislike to him. So that’s my only worry for him.

“It’s a natural thing for people who are dominant, who take every little last crumb of success.”

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