"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

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."

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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."

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