“Imagine the Tour de France without him!” – David Millar pushes back against “Tadej Pogacar is killing cycling” narrative fuelled by his dominance
CyclingWednesday, 15 July 2026 at 16:30
Tadej Pogacar’s control of the 2026 Tour de France has intensified the recurring argument over whether one rider winning so often is damaging the spectacle.
The UAE Team Emirates – XRG leader has claimed three of the opening 10 stages and carries a 3:36 advantage over Jonas Vingegaard. His latest attack at Le Lioran left the battle for yellow appearing increasingly one-sided before the halfway point of the race.
L’Equipe included former Tour stage winner David Millar among a selection of figures asked whether Pogacar was killing cycling.
“People come to watch the races because Pogacar is participating,” Millar said on the For the Love of Cycling podcast. “Imagine the Tour de France without him.”
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Pogacar’s control extends beyond yellow jersey battle
Pogacar gained 2:42 on Vingegaard during his Col du Tourmalet demolition before adding another 54 seconds, including bonuses, at Le Lioran. His appetite has also stretched beyond the stages needed to win yellow. UAE kept a powerful breakaway within approximately one minute on the road to Ussel, despite Pogacar already holding a commanding advantage and the finish appearing better suited to several other riders.
That control has prompted criticism over the opportunities being denied to breakaway specialists and the shrinking number of days on which the peloton can realistically expect Pogacar and UAE to step aside.
Millar’s response to the L’Equipe question was emphatic. “Oh yeah. I said no, big time,” he told podcast co-host Ned Boulting.
Pogacar rode solo to another win on stage 10
“He has become this star attraction”
“He is the principal attraction at the races he starts,” Millar continued. “When he retires, there’s going to be a huge, gaping hole because he has become this star attraction and he dictates the races. I think that’s a good thing.”
Pogacar’s influence now extends beyond the fight for the yellow jersey. His Stage 10 success was the 24th Tour stage victory of his career, moving him within one of Andre Leducq and four of Bernard Hinault.
Only Mark Cavendish, Eddy Merckx, Hinault and Leducq remain ahead of him on the all-time list. Pogacar has reached that position during only his seventh Tour appearance and before his 28th birthday.
Ten stages into the 2026 edition, Pogacar leads the general classification and mountains classification, has won three stages and sits alone in fifth place among the Tour’s most prolific stage winners.
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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- They're only going after him because they know it doesn't take that much of their horsepower to get him. They're just too good to take risks.Veganpotter15-07-2026
- I'm certain Pogi knows he's already done that.Veganpotter15-07-2026
- It could be said that flat stages like these are boring. Everything comes down to the bunch sprint, and anyone could win it. I'd much rather have a solo win vs a bunch sprint and more special if it's from a breakaway. The chase is always exciting.
PogiFan2Day15-07-2026 - About 95% of them were without him and people were not absent. I don’t get the feeling tdf crowds have outgrown others lately, you should try visiting any popular tourist spot completely out of season in Europe these days it’s like the middle of summer used to be 20 years ago, same with concerts, festivals, any location made famous by movies. Given the amount of effort ASO have made to promote the Tour since he turned up, the result in growth is actually quite disappointing. Cycling has growth in certain areas, non traditional markets, non traditional times of the year and non traditional events (think gravel) but those are not doing much for tdf growth which was basically as popular in 14&15 as in 20 or 22 or 25.Jumpyjohn15-07-2026
- The link to this article states: jury-fines-tour-de-france-2026-update-stage-10-uno-x-take-massive-fine-after-late-sticky-bottle But the article says something else Time to ask for details, as so often. The protocol for heatwaves was supposed to give greater tolerance to drinking zones, was this the case or not? A little easy to unilaterally decide the rules for others don’t need to apply to you. The consequences of not getting fined include, everyone else sees it’s ok to ignore the rule and if bothered will all suddenly claim they also have headaches. A bit like a diluted version of why we suddenly had so many asthma sufferers with great results in cycling.Jumpyjohn15-07-2026
- “People come to watch the races because Pogacar is participating,” Millar said on the For the Love of Cycling podcast. “Imagine the Tour de France without him.” !MajorPayne15-07-2026
- When you sprint as dangerously as Jasper does, you lose the benefit of the doubtCrashjames15-07-2026
- Never heard a rider telling his team or on something no-one else has yet. Things tend to be legal before they’re discovered by those who ban them, that’s why they only get banned after being used. THG, PFC, and many others, were completely undetectable at first.Jumpyjohn15-07-2026
- Rasch succeeded in making it into a rider safety vs UCI issue. Congrats.
Rafionain-Glas15-07-2026 - Norway is having quite the year. Not as remarkable if the reason for yesterday was in preparation for today, still kudos for beating the big expected names.Mistermaumau15-07-2026
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