"The Anti-Pogi-Tour: a course that suits him as little as possible" - Expert claims 2025 Tour de France route is a direct reaction to Pogacar's dominance
Cycling
2024 was undoubtedly the year of Tadej Pogacar in cycling terms as the Slovenian dominated the campaign, adding two Grand Tours, two monuments and a world title to his palmares among other successes. If he is to repeat such a feat in 2025 though, the Slovenian may have to do so, fighting against course designers according to Thijs Zonneveld.
"The Tour organization must have watched with horror at the way Tadej Pogacar decided one race after another prematurely last year. If he was at the start, the winner was known," writes the Dutch ex-pro turned pundit in his column for Algemeen Dagblad. "Nightmare for the shareholders of the ASO of course: after a week and a half they see all the TV viewers zapping away to Heel Frankrijk Bakt or the World Swimming Championship with that new French poster boy. So it can't be otherwise that they have thought about the Anti-Pogi-Tour: a course that suits him as little as possible."
In particular, a return to some climbs where Pogacar has memorably struggled in the past, stick out to Zonneveld as he looks for evidence to back up his theory. "On the Ventoux, Pogacar was dropped by Vingegaard in 2021, on the Hautacam he was quartered by Wout van Aert in 2022 and the Col de la Loze is from Pogacar's collapse in 2023. They are simply looking for all the demons of the Slovenian prodigy once again," he explains.
"They hope to revive the duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard, but the Pogacar of 2024 was not the Pogacar of 2023, 2022 and 2021. He had no weak spots last year: he was better than his rivals on every terrain," Zonneveld continues. "Let's hope that his competitors, with Vingegaard at the forefront, pull a rabbit out of the hat this winter. Otherwise, the 2025 Tour de France will once again be a one-man show. With these proportions, it doesn't matter how many of Pogacar's demons they put in the Tour."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 8visitors 6
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
Loading
"I'm gone. I'm dead." Tadej Pogacar's words to the team car after being dropped on the Col de la Loze 😢 #TdF2023 | @TeamEmiratesUAE
11 Comments