Jose de Cauwer believes Pogacar & Vingegaard's yearly Tour de France battle may soon have a third wheel: "You have to add Evenepoel to that"
Cycling
For the third straight year, the battle for the Maillot Jaune has come down to a fight between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar at the 2023 Tour de France. According to Jose de Cauwer however, there could soon be a third rider added into contention.
"You have to add Evenepoel to that," says de Cauwer as part of Sporza's Tour de France recap and review after Vingegaard made it 2-1 in the head-to-head battle with Pogacar. "We especially hope that he can offer resistance to them. We have not seen that yet. He can also drive such powers, but then you will not win the Tour. It is about a wider range."
For Evenepoel to stand a chance in a battle with the likes of Pogacar and Vingegaard however, de Cauwer feels a more time-trial-friendly course may be needed than what we've seen this year. "More time trials? ASO should consider whether it organizes a Tour for riders around 60 kg or can there also be riders who weigh a little more? Will it remain a climbers race?" He asks.
"There is a difference with how it works. What kind of cycling do you want? A type like Miguel Indurain, five-time overall winner, should no longer come to the Tour with his 75 kg, hey," de Cauwer continues, before explaining why Evenepoel. "He is multilingual and not many Tour winners have also been world champions."
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.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I see (elsewhere) that Alaphilippe had more to say than what got relayed in this stub. Me: he was very good early but his latter third trajectory was the pits. His old boss did what he could (huffed and puffed) but Julian couldn't get his greatness back. Sometimes I wonder if crashes that didn't look like much changed the course of the rider.flyer14-11-2026
- I wouldn't classify it as a gift because the nasty consequences of taking it from Sepp would have been great and would persist and he knew it.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. Tratnik's good and Red Bull's better so Tratnik may get what he wants.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. So just saying he wasn't enjoying racing anymore is some kind of explanation? Me saying I don't enjoy his explanation is more explaining than he did.flyer14-11-2026
- Buitrago, was he their best rider in 2026? He's the chief loss for them and Martinez and Tiberi (especially) have to step up or they will be overtaken by Bahrain's younger riders like Omrzel. I'm still somewhat high on Martinez but Tiberi, after showing signs of promise, has fizzled. Bahrain still has a good team but they need to improve and exceed expectations. I'd be happy if Mohoric could manage to return to his better form for maybe one last year at least.flyer14-11-2026
- Hmmm, "... I just gained 30 seconds purely off the bike. Because it's really a big, big improvement compared to the previous bike". Is that marketing for Specialized or serious valid hype, or something in between? Very likely the former.flyer14-11-2026
- Nothing revelatory or controversial. Why do we have to report on Bruyneel's or Armstrong's thinking. It's a shame and enough that the Move's on TV and that people watch it .flyer14-11-2026
- Makes sense that training from home is a big asset or advantage but it's still remarkable that he can put in three quality majors and not pay some heavy price for the exertion. I wish he would have won that tour stage that his crash while leading allowed Carapaz the win. He's a darn good rider and teammate.flyer14-11-2026
- Sounds like we all agree with the over under exaggeration: "The German’s signing does not guarantee that Evenepoel will win the Tour in 2027. "flyer14-11-2026
- Seixas appears to be that good but if he isn't (an absolute rival to Pogacar) he would have plenty of company in rising stars that did not go on to fully meet the expectations of many. That Pogacar wasn't the greatest (as great) sooner can't be transposed onto another's development. It may be not that simple.flyer14-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment