"I never thought for a moment he would break" - Visma unable to repeat the trick and break Pogacar on Col de la Loze
Cycling
Visma | Lease a Bike dared to risk by attacking Tadej Pogacar already 80 kilometers from the finish, but the yellow jersey did not crumble. In fact, the Slovenian showed no sign of weakness on either Col de la Madeleine or Col de la Loze. And then towards the top he once again accelerated away from Jonas Vingegaard to add another 11 seconds to his overall lead.
"We tried everything, but Tadej was the strongest again," concluded sports director Grischa Niermann in a post-race interview with NOS. "If you have to gain 4 and a half minutes back, you can't wait for the final climb. We knew the chance of Pogacar breaking on the Madeleine was slim, but we had to try."
It was a counter-intuitive move even for the German DS who did not really expect the Slovenian to give up this easily anyways. In fact, it seemed like he had the whole day completely under control. "If I'm honest, I never thought for a moment that he would break, but we don't stop after two minutes if we have a plan. It was a fair race, and Tadej ultimately proved to be just a little bit stronger than Jonas."
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After Madeleine, the front group entered into a stalemate with nobody to pace down the valley to the foot of Col de la Loze. "Nobody wanted to ride, and we weren't going to continue with Pogacar on our wheel," Niermann explained. "We felt it was better for that group to come back."
"That climb wasn't suitable for an attack, except in the final 5.5 kilometers. It was clear Jonas would still try. We tried everything, but the strongest rider is in yellow. We have to live with that. We'll try again tomorrow, but yeah... chances are the result will be the same,"
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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- Love this guy. He is such a pure racer.mij07-11-2026
- Fair enough. Everyone’s entitled to one and I respect yours! Nothing wrong with being a one week and GT guy if that’s his vibemij07-11-2026
- LOL...it's a predetermined finish ! N one is 'clashing' at these exhibition crits!frieders307-11-2026
- Surely the UCI and the race organisers have a responsibility to ensure the best medical care is available to riders when incidents like this happen. All very well pushing for global expansion but not so good if riders lives are put at risk because medical support is not up to scratch.Andy12306-11-2026
- Well it clearly helps that this was Pidcock's own car, no?Occam06-11-2026
- The American performance at the World's road race was a masterclass in cycling tactics. If it wasn't McNulty, it might well have been Jorgensen or Simmons to take off and win in a solo break.Occam06-11-2026
- What a gimmick
Rafionain-Glas06-11-2026 - Thats only cause he rides for UAE. In any other team he would be captain in many races atleast. UAE is just to crazymiguel06-11-2026
- He seems to be the rare athlete whose passion and curiosity about life beyond his sport equals his extraordinary achievements in it. It would be great for him to risk less of that life. He seems very grateful and joyful for what he has already attained.
MarkFour06-11-2026 - As much as I admire and even revere Wout, the less I know about his backside the better.MidnightRider06-11-2026
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