Commentator loves the "sportsmanship between Pogacar and Vingegaard" after thrilling opening stage of Dauphiné
Cycling
Those who thought that the relatively easy opening stage of Critérium du Dauphiné would be a sprinter's show must've been disappointed by the outcome. Everyone else witnessed a thirilling finale in Montlucon with all the main protagonists of the pre-Tour test already in action.
"The aliens are back! A big farmer's fair in the first stage of the Dauphiné," Sporza commentator Renaat Schotte said with excitement after Tadej Pogacar's victory.
His colleague José De Cauwer was also somewhat surprised by the fearless offensive launched by race favourites. "The GC men already take bonus seconds on the first day in a mass sprint, or at least in the photo. Beautiful, really beautiful! An open race, as people say about modern cycling."
In past, we would often see men like Jonas Vingegaard veto such attacks by sitting idly, but this time there were little tactics involved until the final meters. "That's when Pogacar started to think about winning a stage," De Cauwer saw. "That's why Van der Poel had to do most of the work and ultimately pay the price."
Ultimately, Pogacar did everything right. "He was also the one who dared to gamble the most. The great thing about the whole thing is that Vingegaard was the instigator. Then Pogacar and Van der Poel had to come and Evenepoel could not stay behind. That the four of them then crossed the finish line just ahead of the peloton: you can't make it up. If you dared to make it up, they would say you were exaggerating."
A slight point of concern was absence of UAE Team Emirates - XRG jerseys at the front when the situation tensed up - and Pogacar had to solve all attacks by himself. "I don't think this is the Tour team," De Cauwer is calm. "Tim Wellens also had a mechanical problem, but those men wouldn't have been with him at the top. It was a small breakaway by Vingegaard, at a difficult moment."
What impressed De Cauwer most was the sportsmanship between the two afterwards. "That's what I particularly enjoyed, the openness and sportsmanship between Pogacar and Vingegaard. A smile that I've rarely seen towards each other, looking openly into each other's eyes as we would do. Without any kind of jealousy or hostility. They simply said to each other after the finish that what they had done was good. I thought that was a very beautiful image."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin is wuite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
- dude, Lemond never even was in the same race as Armstrong. He throws all these aspersions on other American riders who might usurp his throne as the greatest ever American racer. He doesn't say a single thing about (foreign) dopers who he actually raced against. Biggest douchebag move ever. I used to revere that guy, now I despise him. His actions are so weird.fatsupermodel02-11-2026
- This is just stupid, You do what you are good at not what you are weak at. He has no results to speak of when he participated. Even Froome, Conatdor had very little. With Pogi there he wont win none of the classics. he is already 30+ with a few years left at the top. It takes years to get good at classics. Is that really worth the effort???abstractengineer02-11-2026
- Sure, little fella.awp02-11-2026
- You'll be the ongoing joke of 2027 with anything you post here!frieders302-11-2026
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