"Two super talents, natural allies with mutual respect" - Tadej Pogacar & Mathieu van der Poel set to work together for Tour de France success?
Cycling
Two of the biggest stars in the modern peloton, Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel have been incredibly successful over the last few years. According to Belgian cycling expert Michel Wuyts, the pair could be set to work together in the opening week of the 2025 Tour de France, to their mutual benefit.
“After two relatively quiet years in the Tour, Van der Poel is as hungry as he was during his debut in 2021,” Wuyts previews of the 2025 Tour de France in conversation with Het Laatste Nieuws. “Back then, he spent six brilliant days in yellow. That’s the colour he’s targeting again. The Van der Poel we saw on the Poggio is a hard man to stop. I’m expecting two stage wins — perhaps even three, if things go his way.”
With a very Van der Poel friendly parcours at the Tour this year, Wuyts can see only Pogacar being able to prevent the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader from starring with multiple stage victories. “Who can stay with Van der Poel at his best on a tough finish with steep kickers? One man: Tadej Pogacar," he explains.
As mentioned already though, Wuyts also foresees the pair working together for their mutual benefit. "Of course, those two will work together. Two super talents, natural allies with mutual respect,” he says. “Remember these names — Boulogne-sur-Mer, Rouen, Vire Normandie, Mûr-de-Bretagne. Tension will be sky-high; gaps will open.”
As for Wuyts' Belgian compatriots, Remco Evenepoel is the man best placed to challenge for the overall victory. “Stage five is a gently undulating time trial in Caen, made for aerodynamic powerhouses. Who can keep Remco Evenepoel out of yellow there?” Wuyts questions. “Maybe he (Van der Poel ed.) can. He’ll have picked up bonus seconds in the punchy finishes beforehand. He’s also been putting work into his time trialling. Pulling off the unexpected is Van der Poel’s trademark. But let’s be honest — keeping Evenepoel out of yellow? We don’t see it happening.”
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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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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