"They are getting away with this again" - Thomas Dekker disappointed in how easily are other teams being led on by UAE
CyclingTuesday, 14 July 2026 at 10:23
Recently, it seems as though the Tour de France tends to become a playground to whichever team holds the aces (read as: overwhelming favourite), and then they are let to get away with almost anything. We have seen it in 2022 from Jumbo-Visma when they split six stages among Jonas Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert. And now it's happening again at UAE Team Emirates - XRG.
The Emirati team has only left crumbles to their opponents in the first week as Isaac del Toro and Tadej Pogacar grabbed three stage wins and most special jerseys at some point of the first week.
On stage 9, seemingly tailor-made for a successful breakaway, they once again made the escapees ride for their life in order to hold off the main group with hungry Mads Pedersen after UAE did not let them (at one point an 18-man group) get further than a minute up the road.
The reason? Pogacar said that Tim Wellens 'just likes' to keep plowing ahead a bit.
"Some teams can do nothing right, like Jumbo-Visma back when they dominated, but it seems like Pogacar's team doesn't do anything wrong. They are getting away with this again," ex-professional Thomas Dekker draws a parallel on Live Slow, Ride Fast podcast.
Fortunately, all is good
At the end of the day UAE Team Emirates - XRG still only used two of their domestiques while they arrived with four riders in the main group behind escapees.
"It might've cost something in the chase, but it couldn't cost everything," pointed out Dekker that only Felix Großschartner and Tim Wellens were spent.
Mathieu van der Poel wins stage 9 of the 2026 Tour de France
Had the breakaway not worked out, UAE might've made some powerful enemies in the pack, starting with Mathieu van der Poel: "They were actually just lucky that the breakaway made it, because otherwise Van der Poel would have thought: 'Today again, yeah?'"
After the finish, Van der Poel and Pogacar joked around about the stage. The Slovenian seemed genuinely happy to meet Van der Poel backstage afterwards. Dekker: "Of course, then everything was immediately forgotten again."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Thanks Thomas may i suggest you tell other teams how to ride or perhaps give the special stuff to help that you used to be in the peleton may make them go faster or give them Dutch courage 🤣🤣🤣paultryan200214-07-2026
- Well, if you look at past winners, the percentage is pretty shocking and from having learnt about human nature, I’d find it VERY hard to believe suddenly everyone (especially people wanting/needing money) has lost interest in discovering new enhancement products and selling them. Now, apart from suspicion, what else happened each time in the past when something undetectable was introduced? Exactly, nothing.Jumpyjohn14-07-2026
- Pretty good points Some more, 90% of the sport watching population has their main vacation time around July/August, it is why almost ALL major sports events (except ice/snow dependant obviously) have been, are, want and will be programmed then. Hardly anyone will take time to follow a Tour around during work time and if the stages take place during work hours, no media is going to pay top dollar for the privilege of live coverage. Now, if somebody would like to remind the likes of Tadej and the Union spokesperson that it’s likely their demands would lead to quite a drastic reduction in rider salaries, I’m not so sure they’ll stay as vocal with their « solutions ». I’m still ride in these temps (it’s actually more refreshing than sitting around outside), alone and without getting paid and certainly no slower than during normal temps (in fact, some days it feels like it’s easier to be fast in these temps) or having serious goals, the hard part is the first couple of days but you quickly get used to it and as long as you adapt hydration and avoid consuming anything nefarious, nothing happens. We’re going to get to the point of telling pro swimmers to stop in heatwaves because there’s an increase in drownings. Speaking of cooling down methods, maybe some of these are as dangerous as the heat itself. Many people drown from the reactions we have to thermal shock, jumping into cold water after being hot. Yet what are teams doing with ice packs and cryobaths? Maybe, again, it’s all about how resilient and experienced individuals are, no scandinavian would worry about sauna/ice bath consequences, but that doesn’t mean everyone should copy them without some initiation? Same with pros, no point to consider their fragilities similarly to the general population.Jumpyjohn14-07-2026
- Dear UAE Please stop being better than everyone else....... doubt this would be an issue if it were a Dutch, Belgian, French or Italian team.. old cycling just can't stand the newslappers6614-07-2026
- Yeah, but I've heard cycling fans say, if Pogi was in team Visma, he would already be a 6X Tour winner, this year he would be "fighting" for his 7th Tour. What do you think about that?mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales14-07-2026
- The 'problem' (for lack of a better word) is the grand tours are all in Europe, so if you shift the TDF, then the Giro or Vuelta (depending on which way they shift the calendar) will then have to be held in the heat. There are also many other races, so the calendar is quite packed and there's not much room to shift. I think it's just something they have to put up with unfortunately. Us cyclists are tough and ride in most weather conditions and the pros are even tougher, so I think this is just more of a "discussion point of the day" and we'll all move on tomorrow to discuss something else haha (24hr news cycle etc).Pogboom14-07-2026
- Can i get an amen up here. We certainly do have a Pogi 1.0 and a Pogi 2.0.
Andrew14-07-2026 - You watch too many moviesAndrew14-07-2026
- Armstrong was using methods that many other riders at the time, and he dominated - perhaps his doping enhanced his already superior physical capabilities. Same could be said of Pog, ie he doesn’t need something unique. Then again, with the UAE resources, he could have something quite unique indeedCrashjames14-07-2026
- Hey Lance...reminder you have ZERO TdF wins ! That getting old and losing your memory is happening now!frieders314-07-2026
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