Tom Dumoulin on Tadej Pogacar's countless attacks: "He does it just to annoy Vingegaard. It has something to do with arrogance"
Cycling
Stage 17 didn't bring too much action for GC favourites as is clear that the final standings will be decided in the last three stages. Hence it was finally time for breakaway show on Wednesday. However even with stage victory out of the equation, Tadej Pogacar still didn't miss the opportunity to make the stage harder for Jonas Vingegaard as he attacked on the penultimate climb of the day and then sprinted away to gain two seconds on the finish line.
Speaking to NOS, Tom Dumoulin, wasn't particularly impressed by Pogacar's act, which he considers rather pointless wasting of energy. "This is a pure bluff, it's a mere show of strength. Pogacar is three minutes ahead, he doesn't need to do this. He does it just to annoy Vingegaard. It has something to do with arrogance," he believes.
According to the Dutch former winner of Giro d'Italia, it's more of a mental war between Pogacar and Vingegaard. The Slovenian now finally seems to have an upper hand again and prefers to have everyone know it. "Pogacar can't stand the fact that he has been beaten for two years in a row. Now he has finally returned to being the boss and has the legs to hurt Vingegaard again. His thought is: now it's all coming back to you."
With four more days of racing ahead, Tadej Pogacar has a nice lead of 3:11 on Vingegaard. Meanwhile the third spot Remco Evenepoel was able to recover a bit of time in Superdévoluy and now stands a bit less than two minutes further from the Slovenian.
Read also
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.
claps 3visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I live in Ljubljana and often go on trips in the surrounding area, where I frequently see young cyclists in 'Pogi Team' jerseys training, either alone or in groups. By simply motivating so many young people to take up cycling, Tadej has already achieved something truly significant.Velijo14-11-2026
- That's an excellent point. It's interesting that Vader came to that realization only after he learned that his contract wasn't going to be renewed.
santiagobenites14-11-2026 - Indeed! A reluctant gift maybe. Even more reluctant gift from Roglic! Tho I can’t see that Rog would have beaten Ving anyway.Lozza14-11-2026
- That really nasty crash in 2022 Liege must have played a big part - broken ribs, pneumothorax. You only have to look at his points tallies pre and post.Lozza14-11-2026
- Yeah, good luck getting tv and race organisers like ASO etc to part with their cash!Lozza14-11-2026
- 36 and Ineos have bought a rider on the downward slope. Bring back Dave and Rob who could manage the team. How are Ineos going to win a grand tour with people past their sell by date.paultryan200214-11-2026
- Mmmm would he be making these comments when he was on the richest team when riding. I think not i suspect. If we want money put into the sport we need sponsors who are prepared to put the money in. No disrespect but his team are 2nd or 3rd div in football terms with riders over the hill or 2nd string riders. If i was a sponsor i would be looking at what publicity am i getting back and Tudor really are just making up the numbers really.paultryan200214-11-2026
- I see (elsewhere) that Alaphilippe had more to say than what got relayed in this stub. Me: he was very good early but his latter third trajectory was the pits. His old boss did what he could (huffed and puffed) but Julian couldn't get his greatness back. Sometimes I wonder if crashes that didn't look like much changed the course of the rider.flyer14-11-2026
- I wouldn't classify it as a gift because the nasty consequences of taking it from Sepp would have been great and would persist and he knew it.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. Tratnik's good and Red Bull's better so Tratnik may get what he wants.flyer14-11-2026
Loading
#TDF2024 - Dumoulin on NOS about yesterday Pogacar attack: "This is a pure bluff, it's a mere show of strength. Pogačar is three minutes ahead, he doesn't need to do this. He does it just to annoy Vingegaard. It has something to do with arrogance." (1/2)
10 Comments