“I could see Tadej Pogacar was angry” – Rolf Sorensen saw a new side of Tour de France leader during Alpe d’Huez annihilation
CyclingSaturday, 25 July 2026 at 13:30
Former Tour de France stage winner and TV2 cycling expert Rolf Sorensen believes frustration helped drive Tadej Pogacar towards his record-breaking victory on Alpe d’Huez.
Pogacar began the final climb more than three minutes behind the remaining breakaway riders, with UAE Team Emirates – XRG weakened by illness and Brandon McNulty already out of the race. Sorensen felt the yellow jersey was increasingly unwilling to watch one of the Tour’s most prestigious stages disappear up the road.
“I could tell from looking at him that Pogacar was frustrated and angry today,” Sorensen said on TV2. “The victory was beginning to slip away from him.”
Rather than settle for protecting an overall lead of more than seven minutes, Pogacar attacked with over 11 kilometres remaining and immediately began cutting into the advantage held by Richard Carapaz, Lenny Martinez and Sepp Kuss.
Sorensen sees frustration behind Pogacar attack
The difficulties inside UAE had been visible across the previous days. McNulty had abandoned, Adam Yates was still recovering from illness and several teammates had struggled to provide Pogacar with the support normally available in the mountains.
“His teammates have been ill and still are,” Sorensen said. “McNulty abandoned yesterday, and he has really been struggling with the team around him.”
Felix Grossschartner still produced a powerful turn before Pogacar’s attack, while Yates briefly helped after dropping back from the breakaway. Most of the chase, however, was completed by the Tour leader alone.
Pogacar passed Thymen Arensman before reaching the closing kilometres, where Carapaz and Martinez were still fighting for the stage. The gap that had looked sufficient at the foot of Alpe d’Huez had almost completely disappeared.
“So today it was all or nothing,” Sorensen said.
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Anger turns into Alpe d’Huez history
Pogacar caught Carapaz and Martinez inside the final two kilometres before attacking again beneath the flamme rouge. Neither could stay with him as he completed one of the most striking victories of his Tour.
His reported ascent time of 35:27 surpassed the long-standing benchmark associated with Marco Pantani’s 1997 ride by more than a minute. Pogacar also became only the second rider after Geraint Thomas to win on Alpe d’Huez while wearing the yellow jersey.
“A huge performance,” Sorensen said. “Pogacar was very, very happy and proud today.”
The stage had offered Pogacar little reason to take risks for the general classification. His advantage was already overwhelming and his team was operating below full strength.
Sorensen instead saw a rider irritated by the prospect of losing the stage, willing to attack near the foot of Alpe d’Huez and chase down more than three minutes almost entirely under his own power.
By the summit, the frustration Sorensen had detected had been replaced by a fifth stage victory of the Tour and the fastest reported ascent in the history of Alpe d’Huez.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- But…Jonas wasn’t there. And now UAE has two riders on the podium, both the Yellow and White jerseys, and Pogacar helped his good friend. Pogi’s teammates love him for good reason: he enjoys helping them succeed as well.DAS25-07-2026
- Stoked for Carapaz. love the way he always goes for it and is willing to risk it all for the win.mij25-07-2026
- I don’t know where you got this from but I’d be interested coz just about EVERYTHING here I can show is total BS if you compare with what he said at the time.Jumpyjohn25-07-2026
- What a BS article. This SOB said: “I could tell from looking at him that Pogacar was frustrated and angry today.”... WTF was he trying to tell us? OMG, UAE lost Mcnulty...Yates is ill, Wellens is ill Now Pogi will lose the Tour and Remco will prevail ...bla bla bla...mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales25-07-2026
- The management needs to change. How will signing them help the team? Do they have the best training regime? Those who left INEOS like Carapaz, Danny Martinez, Narveaz and Pidcock perform better than current INEOS after they left. It seems like talent goes to die there. They don't win jersey, monuments nor GC podium for the past few years. Even their TT technical lead left for BORA.
KerisVroom25-07-2026 - mauro tells us he was a victim of someone else injecting him with something when he was racing (so it's not his fault he thinks) and he was a victim of his own riders doping at home and the uci apparently lied to him about his own riders' doping. really hard to take mauro seriously. nothing is ever his fault, he's an eternal victim. and almost like he's telling us if his current riders are doping, he knows nothing about it. he is so sketchy. if he was looking to remove doubt from tadej he muddied the waters insteadwhkman25-07-2026
- Thanks, stopped me reading it :-)Mistermaumau25-07-2026
- I’ve seen this happen over a caravan catch attempt eith zero alcohol involved. Not really surprising to have an occasional fight when you have 100 to 200k spectators packed together grabbing stuff. As a cyclist you’d know far less can start the same, like just using a public road. I tend to give away most of what I catch to nearby kids or their parents.Mistermaumau25-07-2026
- At the Ballon d’Alsace they placed the rope at the edge of the tarmac where a deep v-shaped gully carries the run-off before a 45 degree incline into the forest. Needless to say, not one person stayed behind.Mistermaumau25-07-2026
- Kuss! Was so hoping he won the stage today. Head up high, you gave it your best!b3tlla25-07-2026
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