Tadej Pogacar opens up on Tour de France defeat: "There’s a lot of small mistakes that I did, that the team did"
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar took the win in the first two editions of the Tour de France he's raced. He was the overwhelming favourite to take a third title this past July, however had to settle with second place as he found a stronger competitor in Jonas Vingegaard.
“I cannot say that I lost the Tour. Second place is pretty great. But I can say that I lost the Tour in the best possible way. I couldn’t be better," Pogacar said in an interview with CyclingTips. "And if that means losing for some people, then I accept that.”
“When you win, it changes you. You get your confidence. But when you lose, sometimes you need that reality check … That was done to me this year. I know better what to do next year. I’m happy that I lost," he continued. The UAE Team Emirates rider set off with the number 1 bib on his back, a strong team backing him up and great form as he's shown throughout most of the year.
He's finished second in the race, won the youth classification, three stages and spent several days in yellow. However he couldn't get to the top step in Paris, having cracked in the high-altitude mountains of the Alps en route to the Col du Granon, and losing valuable time that he could not recover later in the race as Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma stayed firm as a rock in the lead.
Read also
“I tried to win. I didn’t succeed because Vingegaard was stronger than me. Maybe I could’ve brought home some more stages but I didn’t want that. I wanted to win. I gave it all," he admitted. “There’s a lot of small mistakes that I did, that the team did. In cycling you can’t do 100% to perfection. Maybe only Jumbo-Visma did it perfect, but probably also not 100% perfect. Their tactic worked."
The Slovenian didn't take much time to bounce back, winning at the GP de Montréal, Tre Valli Varesine and Il Lombardia now towards the end of the year. However, the Tour saw a different side of him, one that was beatable - unlike what he had shown throughout most of the season. This has put him in a different position than that of 2021, and will be a motivating factor towards 2023 as he looks to take back his title - with a presence in the Giro d'Italia a possibily, UAE's Joxean Matxin admitted.
“If I could go back, yeah, I would probably do some things different. But in that moment you don’t know how your competitors are feeling and how good they are. You make mistakes in cycling," he revealed.
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 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I see (elsewhere) that Alaphilippe had more to say than what got relayed in this stub. Me: he was very good early but his latter third trajectory was the pits. His old boss did what he could (huffed and puffed) but Julian couldn't get his greatness back. Sometimes I wonder if crashes that didn't look like much changed the course of the rider.flyer14-11-2026
- I wouldn't classify it as a gift because the nasty consequences of taking it from Sepp would have been great and would persist and he knew it.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. Tratnik's good and Red Bull's better so Tratnik may get what he wants.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. So just saying he wasn't enjoying racing anymore is some kind of explanation? Me saying I don't enjoy his explanation is more explaining than he did.flyer14-11-2026
- Buitrago, was he their best rider in 2026? He's the chief loss for them and Martinez and Tiberi (especially) have to step up or they will be overtaken by Bahrain's younger riders like Omrzel. I'm still somewhat high on Martinez but Tiberi, after showing signs of promise, has fizzled. Bahrain still has a good team but they need to improve and exceed expectations. I'd be happy if Mohoric could manage to return to his better form for maybe one last year at least.flyer14-11-2026
- Hmmm, "... I just gained 30 seconds purely off the bike. Because it's really a big, big improvement compared to the previous bike". Is that marketing for Specialized or serious valid hype, or something in between? Very likely the former.flyer14-11-2026
- Nothing revelatory or controversial. Why do we have to report on Bruyneel's or Armstrong's thinking. It's a shame and enough that the Move's on TV and that people watch it .flyer14-11-2026
- Makes sense that training from home is a big asset or advantage but it's still remarkable that he can put in three quality majors and not pay some heavy price for the exertion. I wish he would have won that tour stage that his crash while leading allowed Carapaz the win. He's a darn good rider and teammate.flyer14-11-2026
- Sounds like we all agree with the over under exaggeration: "The German’s signing does not guarantee that Evenepoel will win the Tour in 2027. "flyer14-11-2026
- Seixas appears to be that good but if he isn't (an absolute rival to Pogacar) he would have plenty of company in rising stars that did not go on to fully meet the expectations of many. That Pogacar wasn't the greatest (as great) sooner can't be transposed onto another's development. It may be not that simple.flyer14-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment