"Pogacar is incredibly confident – bordering on cocky" - Is Tadej Pogacar himself the only man who can stop another Tour de France win?

Tadej Pogacar really laid down a Tour de France message at the 2025 Criterium du Dauphiné, taking home a dominant Maillot Jaune win ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, despite insisting he wouldn't go too deep over the course of his week in France.

One of the leading cycling journalists on the scene at the Dauphiné, was Daniel Friebe for ITV Sport. Very experienced, Friebe have seen plenty of Pogacar over the recent years, but something about the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader's ease at which he won, really stuck out this time around. 

“In a way, it’s a shame we had both of them (Pogacar & Vingegaard ed.) lining up at the Dauphiné. It’s made it pretty clear just how dominant Pogacar is at the moment," Friebe analyses in conversation with Danish broadcaster TV2. "I wouldn’t have said that after the time trial, but since then it’s become obvious that he’s taken yet another step up. I don’t really see the dynamic changing at the Tour. Pogacar is incredibly confident – bordering on cocky.”

Whilst Vingegaard was clearly a level below his great rival in the high mountains, Friebe also calls into question the tactics of Team Visma | Lease a Bike during the race. “What we saw here is the limit of having multiple leaders. It didn’t work," he explains. "They could have used Ben Tulett and Matteo Jorgenson to pressure Pogacar’s helpers, but they held back to stay high in the GC themselves.”

As such, there is a struggle to see how anything other than a lack of concentration from Pogacar himself will stop a 4th Maillot Jaune going the way of the Slovenian superstar later this summer. "“Crashes can obviously end someone’s race, but they also change how a rider feels – we saw that with Remco Evenepoel here, who has suffered," concludes the ITV Sport expert. "Pogacar mentioned earlier this week that he receives so much respect in the peloton that everyone gives him a wide berth. That makes it less likely he’ll crash. So yes, while it’s still a risk, it’s probably less of one for him than for others.”