Beating Pogacar "will be very difficult" and requires INEOS/Jumbo alliance says Bernard Hinault

Five time winner and Tour de France legend Bernard Hinault is a vocal voice on the Grand Boucle and has shared his thoughts on how the peloton can overcome the obstacle that is Tadej Pogacar, in the pursuit of winning the overall classification.

“Pogacar has shown them who is boss. The others are wondering how they can put him in trouble and when you know what is waiting for them at the end of the Tour, it will be very difficult," Hinault told Eurosport. “The other possibility we have is there will be another tactic, which is picking out that moment when to attack but there are two big teams that are going to need to make that decision, which are INEOS and Jumbo-Visma."

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As it stands, before the race reaches the mountains, Pogacar is already leading the Tour with a 31-second advantage over Jonas Vingegaard - his closest competitor - and 2:27 minutes on Primoz Roglic who was on paper to be his biggest rivals throughout the three weeks. The three INEOS Grenadiers riders have also stayed safe until today, but will have a tough challenge to bring down the UAE Team Emirates leader.

“They are going to need to agree on a strategy that if one team attacks, the others must not go after them. You must make Tadej go after you and then maybe you take the turn. In that case, you might be in trouble but if I was in his shoes, I would be very relaxed," he explained. With the Alps coming this weekend, they will be the first opportunity for the two teams to take advantage of their depth in terms of climbers.

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"After Alpe d'Huez we will know who is going to win the Tour but more importantly who has lost it. So, Ineos and Jumbo need to create an alliance essentially because even without his team, Pogacar will be safe," Hinault said as the way to beat the Slovenian.