"Pogacar's biggest enemy is called Pogacar" - Johan Bruyneel believes Tour de France winning battle depends mostly on the defending champion
Cycling
Johan Bruyneel and George Hincapie discussed on 'The Move' podcast what happened in the past Criterium du Dauphiné and how it will relate to the upcoming Tour de France; and how the key to the Tour de France decision is in Tadej Pogacar's ability to remain consistent.
The French race looked more tight in the first few days with the attacks of Jonas Vingegaard and the Slovenian's modest time-trial, however once the race entered the mountains the damage was immediate and irreversible.
"After the time trial I thought: wow, do we have a real race ahead of us? Who knows what happened to Pogacar, but he wasn't good compared to the other favorites. That made it exciting, but to see him in the mountains leaving Vingegaard and Remco behind like that...".
"With these guys, the teams are not so important. Visma can be stronger. With their numbers they can maybe isolate Tadej. But the point is that then Tadej will attack. And there they are left with two. There's no one else." Directly, Pogacar would on paper be superior and be able to nullify Visma's numerical advantage.
George Hincapie agreed, commenting that Visma's tactic of stiffening the race suits Pogacar: "Those tactics don't work, that stiffening the race to wear out his legs. That only works to his advantage. You have to ride as if second or third place doesn't matter. You have to go all out for the win, or nothing".
For the Belgian pundit, he believes Visma does have the possibility to be able to do this however: "The only one they can maybe try that with is Matteo Jorgenson. He's a danger, but UAE will always have João Almeida as a backup, and Adam Yates, who is more or less at the same level."
But with a route that features very similar mountain stages, it will be hard to surprise. "They can only take advantage if there is no summit finish, or if there is a lot of terrain between the mountains. If the finish is on a peak, the team doesn't matter anymore. If Pogacar accelerates, only Jonas can follow him. So the question is: how long can he follow him? For everyone's benefit, I hope the gap will be smaller in the Tour."
And he ended by making it clear that for him the only favorite to win the Tour is Pogacar: "Tadej Pogacar's biggest enemy is Tadej Pogacar. If he rides smart, and attacks when he has to... After what I saw in the Dauphiné, I don't know how close they can really be to him".
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.
claps 29visitors 12
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
7 Comments