"The competition will be superior to that of the Giro" - Decathlon AG2R boss insists Tadej Pogacar won't have it all his own way at the Tour de France
Cycling
After securing himself the first Maglia Rosa of his career at the 2024 Giro d'Italia by just short of ten minutes from his nearest challenger, Tadej Pogacar will switch his attention to the Tour de France at the end of this month as he attempts to become the first man since Marco Pantani to complete a Giro/Tour double.
Unlikely the complete and utter domination that Pogacar had over the Giro d'Italia field however, things are set to be a lot more competitive for the UAE Team Emirates leader at the Tour de France according to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team boss, Julien Jurdie. "The fight for the yellow jersey of the Tour will be more intense than that for the pink jersey of the Giro, that's a certainty," Jurdie predicts confidently in conversation with Cyclism'Actu.
Nevertheless, Jurdie admits Pogacar will start as the strong pre-race favourite. "Pogacar will arrive with the favourites tag. I think he will manage his month of June very well," Jurdie explains. "Afterwards, I still think there will be a good battle because the competition will be superior to that of the Giro."
In terms of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team's Tour de France hopes, after Ben O'Connor secured 4th place at the Giro d'Italia, Jurdie is hopeful of a similar result from Felix Gall in France. "His objective is of course to be 100% at the start of the Tour and the objective will be to achieve a good general classification. He has the ability to get into the top ten. We have not set huge objectives, we will remain careful, it will only be Felix's second Tour de France," he assesses of Gall's chances. "There will be battles for the yellow jersey, the podium, the top 5 and the top 10, and I think we can put him in the latter. with why not a good surprise. And then I think that, like last year, he will have the opportunity to win a mountain stage on this 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.
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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Tadej Pogačar was spotted today on Col de la Madone 👀
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