"My second plan collapsed" - Might Tadej Pogacar's Tour de France preparation be in jeopardy after Zigart's injuries?
Cycling
The 2026 Tour de Suisse has been very important for the upcoming Tour de France for several reasons. Tadej Pogacar has taken the overall win dominantly, but his mind was elsewhere - and his preparation for the Tour has changed once again after the crash of his partner Urska Zigart.
A perfect plan crumbled
With the men's and women's race taking place on the same dates and finishing on the same locations, it was the perfect opportunity for Pogacar to have Zigart close throughout a key part of his run-up to the Grand Boucle.
Both riders were also at a very high level, but at the end of stage 2, Zigart crashed in the final kilometers of the women's race. The fall was a terrible sight, and the Slovenian rider suffered a fractured jaw as a result.
Pogacar considered withdrawing from the men's race, despite leading it by a comfortable margin, but did not do so on request of Zigart - whom he visited at the hospital that day. He went on to win the overall classification.
But in a post-race interview, he didn't hide that his mind was elsewhere: “I am happy with the stage win and the overall victory, but also happy that I can now go home, to Urska," were his first words after the victory in Villars-sur-Ollon.
Tadej Pogacar and Urska Zigart at Strade Bianche
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Several plans scraped for Pogacar
The World Champion has returned home to Monaco, and might stay there for the next few weeks. Following the end of the Tour de Suisse, he shared in a press conference that he was already not on track for his initial plan into the Tour de France.
However, his 'second plan' has now also collapsed. "I changed a lot of plans in the last two weeks. Now that Urška is recovering, her plans collapsed, my second plan collapsed, and now it's the third plan and maybe in two days it will be plan four".
This raises questions on what Pogacar's plan was, and most importantly, what it will be. While most GC riders head back to altitude following the Tour Auvergne and Tour de Suisse respectively, for their final touches, Pogacar might skip it.
At the time being no decision is taken, as throughout the first days of this week, there will be an attempt to stabilize a difficult situation. "The most important thing is that we stay together the next few days and we see how it is."
It is possible then that Pogacar will not go to altitude again now in the final week and a half that remains until the Grand Depart, and the likely plan is to remain in Monaco. The situation should evolve throughout the upcoming days.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026 - I like Del Toro but he's not on the level of Jonas, by a large margin.awp12-11-2026
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