Tadej Pogacar has looked little tired in all honest throughout this Tour de France, but he managed to take it a bit easier and save the legs for the decisive mountain stages remaining. Today at the Tour de France the yellow jersey prepared himself mentally for what he considers to be the toughest stage of the race tomorrow.
“A day like today feels good, but you can never really relax. It was too much up and down for that, it was still quite a tough day. But of course we had everything under control, so I'm happy”, Pogacar said in a post-race interview. UAE Team Emirates did not push the pace hard to control the day today, and the Slovenian was able to spend the day in the peloton without major stress or mishaps taking place.
Tomorrow on stage 19, the riders will climb up to Isola 2000 at the end of the day into another summit finish. “I know it well there. I don't know if we've decided yet what the queen stage is, tomorrow is the queen stage of this Tour for me. I like Col de la Bonette, and on Isola 2000 I trained a lot in the month before the Tour. I'm looking forward to racing there.” This is the ski station where Pogacar had an altitude camp ahead of the Tour, and so without a doubt he will know these roads like the back of his hands.
He is in the lead to win the Tour de France, but the race is still not over. Tomorrow's stage will be about defending the lead over Jonas Vingegaard that he's built over the past two and a half weeks. “I have a lead of three minutes. Let's build on that and see if we can maintain that same difference. We'll think defensively first and then on the last climb we'll see how the legs feel. But we have to expect something, it's the queen stage. It's a stage that you want to win. We're going to see fireworks, and maybe some changes in the classification," he concluded.
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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.
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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)...
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- What a travesty ! That little deviation did nothing to impede Brand !frieders307-11-2026
- I also wanne beat Pogacar in the tour but it aint gonne happen. Jonas unfortunately getting dropped by del toro and seixas several times this TDF and jonas team is very weak and joinas on way down, it aint happening thats clear. its also clear it only happened cause Pogacar was hurt and had a broken wrist that time everytime both full strenght its not close we just have to be honest about it :/miguel07-11-2026
- They do this but literally let cars on courses to run over riders.mij07-11-2026
- Looking at that photo she appears to be several feet from her. I’m not sure how that impeded brands sprint.mij07-11-2026
- I hope you are wrong but I suspect you will be proved correct. It might do something for Scottish tourism - although due to logistics the route skips the most spectacular parts of Scotland. It will bring in short term money no doubt, but will cycling overall in the U,K benifit? I doubt it. Even at £2 a litre the bits love thei cars,Cyclingsbestfan07-11-2026
- Lucky to not get disqualified
leedorney07-11-2026 - The road from Holyrood to Edinburgh Castle is a nice steady climb of just over a mile that is cobbled in many parts. (Very slippery if wet!) If the teams are going by one by one that will give fans an even better view of the riders up close than the castle esplanade.Cyclingsbestfan07-11-2026
- wtf dudemij07-11-2026
- big rival … ridiculous.Ketterechts07-11-2026
- It would be great if the World Champion's jersey could be rotated among McNulty, Simmons, and Jorgenson. They threaded the needle perfectly. If each hadn't done exactly what he did, exactly when he did it, the race would have gone to one of the more heralded superstars. That said, how nice that this humble and hardworking guy gets his moment in the sun.
MarkFour07-11-2026
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