"Pogacar finished it off, but that wasn't due to a strong team" - Dumoulin critical of UAE's performance in stage 10
CyclingTuesday, 14 July 2026 at 22:35
Tadej Pogacar blasted the nightmares of his defeat in Le Lioran from two years ago with (yet another) dominant showcase of raw power during the tenth stage of 2026 Tour de France. His rivals were unable to keep up, but the same can be said about his - on paper bullet-proof - team.
Far out of GC contention, Richard Carapaz opened the action early with a gutsy attack, to which he held on quite well. But only until Pogacar sounded the alarm and turned the Ecuadorian into a spectator to his greatness.
"Pogacar closes almost a minute in six to seven hundred meters," Dumoulin looked at the Slovenian with his mouth open during his NOS analysis. "He has truly launched like a rocket. Vingegaard didn't even bother trying to keep up; there was simply no chance at all."
"When you see how he passes Carapaz; it is as if Carapaz is standing still. And Carapaz is not an early breakaway rider or a tired rider who has been riding at the front all day; he had actually just gotten away. That is truly incredible," the rider from Limburg points out.
"As a rider, you sometimes get discouraged by this. There is simply absolutely nothing you can do about this Pogacar. Even on a day like today, when his team was a bit weaker, he is unbeatable."
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UAE was not all-mighty and glorious
Regarding UAE Team Emirates - XRG, not all has been perfect on their end today despite Pogacar's third victory of the on-going edition. After the great work from the team's "flat team" (Tim Wellens and co), it indeed seemed as if Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty, and especially Isaac del Toro lacked a bit of the expect added quality.
"The scenario today looked exactly like that of two days ago: riding all day and, when push comes to shove, just lacking the power or the right situation."
Tadej Pogacar wins in Le Lioran
They never stood a chance
According to Dumoulin, there's never been any shadow of doubt that the Slovenian phenomenon had circled out today's stage as a target of personal revenge on the mountain resort. But he could not lean back on his teammates as much as he'd have hoped.
"Pogacar desperately wanted to win here on Le Lioran because of the memory of two years ago, when he was beaten in the sprint on this very same finish by none other than Vingegaard. Ultimately, he finished it off fantastically today, but that wasn't due to a strong team. On the Pertus, one rider after another dropped off at UAE," Dumoulin observed.
Isaac del Toro and Tadej Pogacar
In particular Isaac del Toro's performance has been rather lackluster and left a bitter taste in Dumoulin's mouth. The Mexican was supposed to be the right-hand man of Pogacar today. Instead, all he could do was hang on until Pogacar's acceleration and then see the other favourites ride away.
"I suspect that Del Toro, who was sitting on Pogacar's wheel in the white jersey, was the reason UAE didn't push on. Because he probably wasn't feeling well. Pogacar naturally didn't want to capitalize on his teammate's bad day, whom he would love to get onto the podium in Paris," he analyzes.
"As a result, Pogacar only attacked a bit later, on his own, hoping that Del Toro could still stay with the pursuers in the background. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. Del Toro fought on sheer character, but he does lose four places in the general classification and is now seventh," states Dumoulin.
But all in all, Dumoulin was pleased with how the today's stage has been raced and hopes for more action-packed days in stages to come. "It was pure tension all day, real edge-of-the-seat fun. We absolutely cannot complain, even though the winner was ultimately the man we had all expected."
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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- And how do you know that it was only the French spectators boo-ing? Are you able to identify them just by looking at them?
Andrew15-07-2026 - But he caught him didn’t he ?vaughanstar14-07-2026
- Remco doesn’t even seem to be the top rider on his own squad. He’ll probably lose his composure again, and if I were Red Bull, I’d let him go after that and put the money into strong support riders for Lipo (I admit that this point of view obviously ignores remco's strength in the classics). Both of them often end up riding on their own, with no teammates around them, while Pogacar always has riders like Politt, McNulty, Del Toro, Yates, and others backing him up. That kind of support is something Lipowitz can only wish for.Ketterechts14-07-2026
- Interview with Tadej Pogačar by a Slovenian TV reporter after the stage: Reporter: Did everything go according to plan? It looked like you were riding for the stage win from the start. Tadej Pogačar: To be honest, the plan was a bit different. We wanted to set a really hard pace all the way to the final climb and then try something with Isaac. But in the end, the stage was so tough and the heat was so intense that things unfolded differently. We rode the penultimate climb at a really high pace, and you could see everyone's legs were already cooked. I attacked, saw that I had a gap, and decided to commit all the way to the finish. I thought, if I blow up, I blow up; if not, it'll pay off. Fortunately, it worked out. Reporter: When you bridged across to Carapaz and then found yourself alone, did you believe you could stay away? Tadej Pogačar: Yes, I did. I knew there was a tailwind on the final climb, which suited me perfectly.Ketterechts14-07-2026
- Remco is showing what I said he may before the race started. IF he has dialed in training and altitude, he could finish top 3 (4th to 5th at worst). As for Jonas he never regained his look of how he rode pre crash. I said before the race he may have to really fight to stand on the podium. It is starting to look like that no question. Lipowitz, Sexis and (shocking) Remco have been as good at times on climbs thus far. And I won't count out IDT unless he cracks very badly in the next week or so. Might be the year of the new podium positions, except Pogi who seems to have won already if he has no illness or fall. Curious, anyone else seeing the look on Jonas face? Kind of reminds me of when Lance was winning everything. Everyone else just had a look that said "Why bother to go after him? I can't beat him...better conserve energy for the 2nd and 3rd (at best) places. Seeing I can't win" I saw that look the other day. Pogi took off and Jonas didn't try to do much. I saw a few hard cranks and then he looked up and didn't seem to try. His face didn't look confident but rather defeated.md197514-07-2026
- I think Valgren was spot on. Jonas struggling now. Pogi is getting a lot of stick for making it look like an unfair advantage he has.Jerrychicken14-07-2026
- Apt comparison👌🤣abstractengineer14-07-2026
- No he just wants to win a lot of stages especially since UAE have to do the work and he can easily win. He did the same in the Giro where there was no Jonasabstractengineer14-07-2026
- Carpaz jumped and that slightly messed his plans up, but on the next to last climb he had Yates up there and I saw him reset his computer, which meant he was about to go.awp14-07-2026
- The germans are far worse than the french. Have you never been to a Tour?awp14-07-2026
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