"Now he doesn't have that disadvantage" - Exercise physiologist Jan Boone argues Tadej Pogacar no longer has endurance disadvantage
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar lost the 2022 and 2023 Tour de France on days with multiple mountains and a constantly high pace from Team Visma | Lease a Bike, and the Dutch team hoped for that outcome on stage 15 this time around. The Slovenian has proven that this is no longer a difficulty, as argued by Jan Boone.
"The concept of "durability" is a hot topic in sports science. You compare how you ride up a mountain pass in fresh conditions with a climb after you have already done 3 or 4 mountain passes, such as Sunday to Plateau de Beille. How much decline is there then?" Exercise physiologist Jan Boone told Sporza. "Last year, Jumbo-Visma played it that way by imposing a high tempo during those first climbs. They hoped that there would be a decline and that is what happened then. Because of that wrist injury, there was a decline in Pogacar. Now he doesn't have that disadvantage after his preparation, while Vingegaard's was a bit less. And I don't think Vingegaard has the team to impose that pace this time."
Whilst Visma is not as strong as previous years collectively, they prepared this stage with a lot of focus and had the tactics in mind already for months. The plan was perfectly executed and Vingegaard put in one of the best performances of his career, judging by his own words and the estimates on his power output... But it was not enough to damage the yellow jersey, who instead had the legs to attack and put further meaningful time into his rival.
Boone believes that Pogacar ended the Giro d'Italia still with some energy, and ended up having the ideal preparation for the Tour afterwards. "I think there was still reserve in the Giro. If he has done another block with volume at a low intensity afterwards, the decline will be very limited." On what can be termed the queen stage, Pogacar cemented himself as the man to beat in this race, something that should only happen if he has a very bad day on the bike or bad luck.
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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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- Mathieu and Wout!!! You must start in CX this winter! (hope you reading comments here...) ;-)averagecyclist12-11-2026
- Who made you site boss?Lozza12-11-2026
- This shows so well you’ve never ventured out to a cycling event and checked out spectators.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- I preferred the one about amateur riders and passing (perhaps to explain why he can’t ride at 220 which would probably be more effective to return to shape).Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Not just ManU, far worse in some minority sports ventures.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- From your writing it sounds like you’ve been sharing your views with people here for quite a while, quite presumouptuous for a new profile.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Which is amazing given his weight and size, though, unlike in boxing and some rare instances we haven’t a clue what his fighting weight was. Anybody know why these “public” figures floated around are considered as being accurate?Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- That’s a first point, everyone can have an off year or just stagnate before a new upward cycle. What would have been more interesting is including Skjelmose’s performance into the discussion, things have also been expected from him after several performances in the past but he hasn’t really progressed either, his TdF was basically what you would have expected but he’s 26 and been kind of stuck at this level for at least 2-3 years. Maybe he’s a late developer or maybe he needs something to change but as manager I’d be just as demanding and worried about both. Perhaps the recruitment concept was to have enough talent so at least one every year would be in shape and they’ve just been unlucky. Don’t want to rub it in but you could even say Mads lost a notch, so is it the riders or is it more to do with the team?Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Bingo...I was also going to say that young pretty women are obsessed Pogi fan girls... who are chasing him. All glossy "____" (blank) about Tadej. PS: You can all fill in the "blank" yourselves, whatever you prefer. The definition of glossy is: It looks unusually shiny, glazed over, watery, or vacant/unfocused.PogiSloFans12-11-2026
- Are you able to discuss ANYTHING without making a reference back to your Special 1? It’s almost as if you’re paid by his marketing team to improve his ranking in search results.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
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💛🙌 @TamauPogi is set to make his 100th @LeTour stage. #WeAreUAE #TDF2024 📸 A.S.O./Billy Ceusters #UAETeamEmirates
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