“The media needs to be careful" - Tadej Pogacar & Matteo Jorgenson's bidon controversy blown out of proportion says former Tour de France winner

There was something of a flashpoint earlier this week at the 2025 Tour de France, when the Maillot Jaune Tadej Pogacar was spotted shoving rival Matteo Jorgenson in the feed zone, causing the American to miss his bidon. With talk on the incident blowing up online since, one former Tour de France winner is urging for calm.

“The media needs to be careful not to blow the incident between Pogacar and Jorgenson out of proportion," says the 1996 Maillot Jaune winner Bjarne Riis in his analysis of the 2025 Tour de France for BT.dk. "Listen – there are a lot of people in the media stirring this up, but they’ve never sat in the middle of a peloton.”

“I don’t read too much into the clash between Pogacar and Jorgenson. These are things that happen during a race – a racing incident – where one rider cuts in front of another, gives a bit of a shove, and that’s it," continues the experienced Dane. "You see it all the time in cycling.”

If anything, despite Pogacar being the one to receive much of the criticism online, Riis believes the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader was within his rights to push back against his Team Visma | Lease a Bike rivals.

“Trust me, there’s nothing more frustrating than someone sneaking in just as you’re about to grab your bottle – especially when it happens again and again,” explains Riis. “It’s often the same teams that keep doing it. Pogacar is sitting there in the goddamn yellow jersey, and he just wants his bottle. I completely understand why he’d be annoyed. There’s something about the attitude in the peloton – riders need to have respect for their colleagues.”

“Sure, it can happen by accident, but I’m hearing Pogacar saying that Visma keeps doing it. At some point, he’s had enough and gives a little nudge,” the Dane continues. “The fiercest rivalries are often between the domestiques – not the stars. The stars generally have great respect for one another. It’s the support riders who resort to the dirty tricks, which is why you end up with these kinds of confrontations.”

And as mentioned, Riis is urging calm and for the incident not be blown up into something it is not. “We shouldn’t over-interpret everything that happens between Visma and UAE. Right now, a narrative is being stirred up," he concludes. "Personally, I don’t sense any real animosity – just a healthy, natural, and professional rivalry that plays out both tactically and verbally.”