"Tadej Pogacar's definitely at one of the best moments in his career" - Matxin warns Visma ahead of imminent stage 18 assault at Tour de France

If Jonas Vingegaard and Team Visma | Lease a Bike want to win the 2025 Tour de France, they need to lay down an all out assault on stage 18. Even if they do though, given Tadej Pogacar's imperious form, that still might not be enough to overturn the 4:15 gap in the general classification standings.

Stage 18 is widely seen as the Queen Stage of the 2025 Tour de France and it's not hard to see why either. With summits of the Col du Glandon, Col de la Madeleine, and the Col de la Loze, the entire peloton are likely to be pushed to their limits this afternoon.

As mentioned, given more than four minutes currently separate Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, Team Visma | Lease a Bike are expected to attack hard and attack early. For UAE Team Emirates - XRG however, faith in Pogacar is so strong that Visma's expected tactics do not fear them in the slightest.

"It's only normal that Jonas Vingegaard has to try to attack. He's over four minutes behind, so if he wants to win the Tour de France, he has no choice," UAE team boss Joxean Matxin tells Cycling News ahead of stage 18. "The situation is the same in the Alps as it was before. He has to take that risk and take another step up if he wants Tadej to suffer."

"I don't know what Vingegaard's condition is like - I only know about Tadej. And all I know is that he is better than in the Dauphiné," Matxin adds, stressing his and UAE's faith in Pogacar’s form. "Not by a lot, it's true because the Dauphiné is the big preparation race for the Tour, so you have to be in good shape, but certainly by a little. He's definitely at one of the best moments in his career."

"Seriously, I expect them to attack again, of course, absolutely. At the moment, the key thing for us is not to lose control, and if Visma takes responsibility for the race - that's OK, and if they attack, attack, attack… It's OK," Matxin adds. "Tadej's best option is to defend, for us to cover the breaks the same as we did in other days, and stay calm and stay with the best rivals of each particular moment. In the case of this year's Tour, that is Jonas."

Pogacar recently proved just how good he is by obliterating the long-standing climbing record of Mont Ventoux earlier this week. Although this performance has raised the eyebrow of some, Matxin insists the performance, and the insanely quick time, make perfect sense when given the correct context.

"Tadej was on his (Vingegaard’s ed.) wheel all the way up, being drafted, and it was only in the last few metres that he came round him. There were four riders in front. It was a comfortable situation for us, and it meant the rivals needed to attack," he explains. "All Tadej had to do was follow. Jonas set the pace."

And although there is seemingly no end in sight of Pogacar and Vingegaard’s combined stranglehold on the Tour de France, as their dominance enters its fifth year, Matcin notes how in cycling, nothing can be taken for granted. "This rivalry between Vingegaard and Pogacar, it's true, it makes them both better riders. But when Egan Bernal came on the scene in 2019, they all said he was going to win five more Tours de France and look what happened," he concludes. "It's equally possible that somebody new comes out of nowhere and manages to beat them both."