"They don't want to end up like Jorgenson" - Tadej Pogacar accused of having 'Amstrongian' tendencies against specific riders in the peloton

Tadej Pogacar is one of the most popular figures in cycling but simultaneously a polarizing one. His domination over the sport is owed to his tremendous talent on the bike and a very strong UAE Team Emirates - XRG collective; but Dutch pundit Thijs Zonneveld argues that his way of ruling over the peloton has tendencies similar to those of Lance Armstrong in the 2000's.

The American rider at the time won seven Tours de France consecutively, from 1999 to 2005, and had an iron fist over the race - which almost because synonymous to his name. Zonneveld compared Pogacar to Armstrong in the sense of chasing down riders whom have spoken about his or his team's tactics.

The 2025 Tour de France was a clear example, with Pogacar personally chasing down Matteo Jorgenson's attacks all throughout the race. This continued even late into the race when the American, part of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, was not in overall contention anymore and was trying to enter breakaways.

"It's going to be very hard for him when UAE starts with a strong team. They simply won't let him win. They don't want to end up like Jorgenson," Zonneveld said on the In de Waaier podcast. These actions came as a result of Jorgenson's earlier in the race.

On stage 7, Pogacar directly accused Jorgenson of preventing him from taking a bidon during a feeding zone. "I don't know what their intention is. They do this often. They'll ride ahead of you in the feed zone as if they're the only ones who need water bottles," Pogacar said at the time.

"We were riding in a line at the feed zone. I indicated my intention to grab a water bottle from my caregiver. He was twenty meters behind the Visma | Lease a Bike rider. Jorgenson decided to pass on the right because he wanted to take a water bottle. I had no choice but to give him a push".

In 2004, Armstrong famously chased down Italian rider Filippo Simeoni who was trying to enter a breakaway at the Tour, and later on did a 'closing-lips' gesture to the TV camera. A clear message sent after Simeoni testified in a doping case which was related to Dr. Michele Ferrari, who was part of Armstrong's doping circle.

Pogacar's dominance in pro cycling currently allows him to go out of his way, as was the case in the Tour de France, to prevent other riders from succeeding. It is something that might also be used as a psychological tactic.

"They have a say in how races play out even when someone other than Pogacar wins. That's why riders want to be among the ones he likes. It's pretty Armstrongian — though that was on a very different level entirely."

The recent Tour de Romandie sparked those worries again. After stage 1, in which Pogacar, Lenny Martínez, Jorgen Nordhagen and Florian Lipowitz moved off the front in the final climb of the day, the latter did not work. In a post-race interview, Pogacar praised the other two riders, whilst very clearly outlining Lipowitz who hadn't.

"He is a likeable guy, but he sneaks in the odd dig. If you ride with him you're a good guy. You get a Strava comment like Seixas did (after Liège-Bastogne-Liège, ed.), or an arm around your shoulder like Nordhagen got. If you don't ride with him, you get a dig in the post-race interview and you end up in the bad books."

This has the potential of creating an environment in the peloton where riders effectively end up collaborating with Pogacar, despite it going against their own chances of winning a race, fearing backlash later on from the World Champion and UAE.

Recently Mathieu van der Poel received a hefty amount of criticism tactic-wise over working fully with the Slovenian at the Tour of Flanders, leading to his own demise at the Oude Kwaremont - in what was a literal identical scenario to what had happened 12 months prior.

However, Zonneveld argues that Pogacar's popularity ultimately shadows this sort of action in the peloton, whilst the criticism often lies on his rivals. "Pogacar is just socially a lot more adept [than Jonas Vingegaard]. That's why he has friends everywhere and is seen as the sympathetic one."