"I admire that Pogacar is willing to make efforts to win this Tour from a far" - Bernard Thevenet enjoys the unique rivalry between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
The duel between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on Wednesday made for one of the more entertaining Tour de France stages in a long time. Two-time Tour champion Bernard Thevenet claims he has never seen a rivalry such as the one between the winners of last four editions of Grande Boucle.
"When Pogacar attacked, we were afraid he was about to kill the overall standings," he told AFP on Thursday. "But then we saw that Vingegaard was up to it and not only that, but that they were ready to work together to get rid of the other two."
But Thevenet feels this rivalry has been somewhat put aside in face of the threat of a broader field of favourites. "You got the feeling they wanted a mano-a-mano like the good old days, so that later they could fight it out between themselves," Thevenet smiled.
"Evenepoel and Roglic may have expected to find an ally in Vingegaard," he explained. "But it hasn't turned out that way at all, instead he allied himself with Pogacar." The pair ended stage 11 in a photo finish, 25 seconds ahead of the chasers.
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The Frenchman subscribes to a popularly held belief that Wednesday's stage proved Vingegaard was back to top form. "At the end, we suddenly saw that Pogacar had to climb up out of his saddle because he was tired, very tired. Did he do too much when he attacked or what? Maybe he felt superior to Vingegaard and was stunned by how Vingegaard stood up to him. It certainly bodes well for the future of this Tour in the Pyrenees and the Alps," Thevenet added
He also said that both the unique rivalry and Pogacar's modus operandi were attracting a new generation to cycling. "There have been other rivalries between two riders, but what makes this one different is this - what I admire is that Pogacar shows such willingness to make efforts to win this Tour from a greater distance. Pogacar going for it in the first week is good for cycling and it's bringing lots of new fans to cycling," Thevenet concluded.
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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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- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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