"He thinks UAE could use the TTT to launch Tadej Pogacar into yellow — and keep it all the way to Paris": Chris Horner laughs off Richard Plugge's Tour de France criticisms

Former Grand Tour winner turned YouTube analyst Chris Horner has weighed in on Richard Plugge’s criticism of the 2026 Tour de France route — particularly its opening team time trial — calling the Team Visma | Lease a Bike manager’s concerns overblown and “missing the point entirely”.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Horner dissected the newly revealed route, which will open in Barcelona with a 19km team time trial, and questioned Plugge’s suggestion that the stage format could unfairly favour Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates.

Plugge, speaking earlier this week to In de Leiderstrui, argued that the format — where the time of the first rider across the line counts — “takes the team aspect out of it.” “This isn’t really a team time trial,” Plugge said. “This is more of a long lead-out for the leader… maybe don’t call it a team time trial, but a lead-out. A team lead-out trial.”

Horner, however, wasn’t convinced. “I don’t like that interview at all,” he said. “Why do you need four or five riders finishing together? Why not all eight? I like mixing it up — it adds a layer of strategy. Calling it ‘one big lead-out’ misses the point completely.”

The 2026 Tour will feature the traditional 21 stages and two rest days — after stages nine and fifteen — but the American’s focus was firmly on the tactical implications of the opening TTT.

In Horner’s view, it could immediately expose any lack of depth within the Visma squad, still reeling from the turbulence that’s followed since Sepp Kuss’s 2023 Vuelta a Espana victory and Primoz Roglic’s departure to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe. “Visma can’t go into stage one treating it like a lead-out,” Horner warned. “If you do, you risk blowing your entire team apart before the race even starts.”

Instead, he argued, Plugge’s team should focus on keeping their key GC riders together — Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss, Simon Yates, and even Wout van Aert — rather than chasing marginal seconds against Pogacar. “It’s better to lose a few seconds to Pogacar than to lose your team entirely,” Horner said. “You want Jonas, Sepp, Yates, Van Aert — all of them — inside the GC window after stage one. That gives you tactical power later.”

Horner didn’t hold back when assessing Visma’s form since the triple-Grand-Tour dominance of 2023. “Since that Vuelta, they’ve had crashes, sickness, traded Roglic… they’ve been a mess,” he said. “Kuss hasn’t looked like his 2023 self. He’s solid, yes, but not the same rider we saw that year.”

He also noted that Vingegaard’s 2023 Tour-winning form remains the high-water mark for the Dane’s career. “The time trial Jonas did in 2023 — that was one of the most dominant performances I’ve ever seen. Pogacar was brilliant, but Jonas was on another planet that day,” Horner recalled. “If he can get back to that level, we’ll see another proper duel in 2026.”

Horner also turned his attention to the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe superteam, now boasting both Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic for 2026. But he warned that they face the same fundamental challenge as Visma: ensuring all their leaders arrive at the Tour firing on all cylinders.

“They’ve got the firepower — Evenepoel, Roglic, Hindley, Martinez, Vlasov — but can they all hit 100% at the same time?” Horner asked. “Remco’s a time trial specialist, sure, but he can’t drop Roglic on the climbs in the TTT. They’ve got to stay together.”

He added that Roglic’s struggles since his Giro crashes in 2025 cast doubt on his ability to return to top form: “We haven’t seen him shine since those crashes. If he’s off again, that team dynamic becomes a problem.”

While stage three will feature the first summit finish, Horner noted its relatively gentle gradient of 6.5%, which should favour teams capable of controlling the tempo rather than individual attacks.

“It’s a softer climb, which means drafting plays a bigger role,” he explained. “That takes away Pogacar’s biggest advantage. If UAE lose a key domestique like Almeida — who crashed early in 2025 — they could find themselves exposed.”

The 2026 route features a crucial individual time trial on stage 16, beginning on a 4% climb — a profile Horner believes favours Pogacar’s all-round strength. “Remco fades in the third week, and Pogacar just keeps getting stronger,” Horner said. “If there’s a TT he’s going to win, it’s that one.”

But the real drama, Horner predicted, will come in the final mountain block, where the peloton will climb Alpe d’Huez twice — first up the traditional 21 bends, then again from the opposite side the following day. “That’s going to be incredible — a proper nail-biter to the finish,” he said.

In his closing remarks, Horner summed up his tactical advice for Plugge and Visma ahead of Barcelona: “The team time trial is going to be crucial,” he said. “Arrive healthy, stay together, and don’t panic about a few seconds to Pogacar. As Jonas Vingegaard has said many times: The Tour de France is never won by seconds. It’s always won by minutes. So slow up your team a little, Richard Plugge, keep everyone together, and give yourself a chance to fight tactically later in the race.”