"We've seen Pogacar crack in the Alps before..." - Can the yellow jersey be at risk despite Tour de France dominance?
CyclingThursday, 16 July 2026 at 13:27
The domination of UAE Team Emirates - XRG has been difficult not only for the direct rivals of Tadej Pogacar, but the entire competition at the Tour de France. XDS Astana Team is one of those looking to win stages from the breakaways in the hills and mountainous, but thus far, UAE's way of racing is coming in the way of that objective.
The team is having shared ambitions. Max Kanter has been putting in strong performances in the sprints and backed by a strong leadout, the Kazakh team can aim for a stage win and green jersey at best. Meanwhile, both Harold Tejada and Sergio Higuita are carrying good form
"We're already thinking about what's going to happen this weekend, Saturday and Sunday (stages 14 and 15, ed.). We see twists and turns every day," Astana sports director Dmitriy Fofonov told Cyclism'Actu. "The heat is also taking its toll, and we'll see what the weather forecast is for the next few days. With the heatwave, it's difficult to manage the mountain stages, so there might be some surprises".
Astana don't carry GC ambitions, and so their men can take it easier when required, which helps manage the recovery in a Tour marked by the heat and high speeds thus far. This can come to the benefit of the
"For us, the focus is first and foremost on tomorrow's (stage 12, ed.) sprint. We're staying focused on our objectives with our sprinters. In the mountains, we'll have to seize opportunities, get into breakaways, and test our abilities. Our guys tried yesterday; they were in the main group, but Pogacar and his team had other ideas".
UAE controlled stage 10 once again to net another stage win
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Pogacar has cracked in the Alps before
Ultimately, that's the story of the Tour for many teams. Chasing breakaways has become quite difficult as the sprint stages have several teams focused on bringing back the attacks; whilst in the mountains the differences in climbing level make it hard for any rider to survive the onslaught caused by Pogacar and UAE.
"It's no surprise, he's the boss of the Tour de France. On Tuesday, they decided to race for the win, and it was a very good race. But there are plenty of surprises in this Tour. Nothing is predetermined," Fofonov assures. And this applies to the yellow jersey himself... "We've seen Pogacar crack in the Alps before".
In 2022 and 2023, the Slovenian suffered bad days in the Alpine mountain range, where the challenges include the ascents' duration and gradient; but also the high altitude and frequent repetition. Different types of challenges mean that the riders could have differing performances over the different mountain stages.
"We also don't know how he'll react to the Red Bull attacks. There will definitely be a big battle for the podium; some riders will have to make a move. We imagine Red Bull is quite strong, and we saw yesterday that Decathlon knew the mountains well," the Kazakh pointed out. "It's not just Pogacar; others will be making moves. And with the heat, anything can quickly backfire":
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- Le Tour should create a “participation trophy/jersey” category for Moviestar and others that complain about not winning. :) Seems moviestar can’t even get the combative jersey, so a participation jersey should be achievable.b3tlla16-07-2026
- There is much more to life than cycling, particularly when cycling doesn't go that good anymore, when you start losing too much.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales16-07-2026
- What's UAE supposed to do? Let others win? Not only would that be completely condescending, but the idea even that that's an "unwritten rule" strikes me as silly. The reason leaders and their teams have historically let breakaways go has never been about "giving" anything, it's always been tactical - either giving the team rest, or even perhaps letting someone else deal with the leader's jersey for a time. But Pogi is just that talented and UAE is deep enough that they can go for stage wins much more than teams have historically been able to. I certainly think it's worth having a conversation around salary caps and floors for racing teams. Anyone with eyes can see that the super-teams have significant advantages over teams with more limited budgets. But that's a systemic problem. In the current system, UAE can dominate...anything less would be patronizing to the other teams.DAS16-07-2026
- Juste une précision que beaucoup de monde oublie, sur un des tour il est arrivé sans préparation optimale à cause de sa chute sur liège baston liège, et pour l'autre c'est parce qu'il s'est grillé à suivre roglic, puis vingegaard, depuis, aucunes de ses situations ne sont jamais arrivées, et ce n'est certainement pas avec la pauvre équipe de vingo que cela risque d'arriver. le seul point déterminant pourrait être une chaleur extrème sur les alpes ou chute ou tout autre élément extérieur, car même si ses coéquipiers ne seraient pas au top il déciderait alors de s'échapper pour pas subir; Ce n'est que mon avisjeje7816-07-2026
- Now the Movistar babies started to cry, because they have a shitty team? It's not Pogi's fault. José Joaquín Rojas, go cry on your mommies shoulder and leave cycling alone, it's not for you. Alpecin also touched a little reality, they have come down from a pink cloud this year and that's where they belong, among average teams. They have one stage win from a breakaway and will remain that way unless MVDP say's: "Pogi, please give us one more chance." Real cycling fans, not cry babies, want to see the GOAT in action. Maybe it's boring for some, especially for Pogi haters, but 80% of the fans are there to admire him, just like stadiums were full when they watched Usain Bolt demolish everyone. Today stadiums are half empty. I wouldn't actively watch the Tour if there was no Pogi (or someone like him), because I would be watching mediocre cyclists. Acta non verba !!!mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales16-07-2026
- Froome's high multi-year contract with the Israel-Premier Tech team did not get the grand tour results they hoped for. His massive salary and later injuries strained the team's budget, leading to his departure without a team by late 2025. Froome became the highest-paid cyclist in the world on a reported €5.5 million per year in 2021. Team management publicly acknowledged he was "absolutely not value for money" due to his inability to reach peak fitness or compete at the Tour de France. Yes he had bad injuries, but if he didn't, the results would have been exactly the same... NOTHING... only BS yapping: "it'll be better next year, after I get my check for €5.5 million." and so on... bla bla bla...mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales16-07-2026
- Such a negative climate around Pogacar. From spectators to riders to directors... How does he dare to be so good? He should burn in hell for that! Imagine if people spilled their mud like that when Bolt was crushing everyone or even nowadays when Duplantis wins every contest he appears. Sick society. I would understand if he behaved like monkey after winning a stage. But he is a modest guy who generally doesn't brag and always shows respect towards his competitorsBublubublu16-07-2026
- I must have missed that part too. Regarding signing for Israel Premier-Tech. They took a chance that he would get over his injuries and come back to his best. Very few ever do. That was a gamble that Israel Premier-Tech took a chance on and lostCyclingsbestfan16-07-2026
- Why sad? This is a sport, not a drama movie. And your prediction is about 2x too small ;-) I have always been annoyed by “unwritten rules” like “do not attack in the feed zone” and others - where riders who rely on those unwritten rules complain -> true champions win. There is only one rule again: whoever crosses the finish line first wins!averagecyclist16-07-2026
- of course the years after his crash and lack of success are one thing, but what did i miss? where does the article say anything about froome trying to benefit financially now from his last crash in august 2025?Ketterechts16-07-2026
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