"What about the mind games? We saw a slightly different side to Pogacar" - TNT expert analyses Dauphiné's effect on Tour de France

The main Tour de France protagonists engaged in a pre-Grand Tour sparring at the 2025 Criterium du Dauphiné earlier this month. Despite Remco Evenepoel spending time in the Maillot Jaune and Jonas Vingegaard showing positive signs on his return to racing, Tadej Pogacar was once again a dominant winner, sending out a clear message ahead of his Tour defence.

Long-time cycling commentator Rob Hatch covered the race for TNT Sports, and as such, is well placed to evaluate the standing of the Yellow Jersey rivals heading into the 2025 Tour de France later this summer. "Where is everybody? Well, given that the main appointment [the Tour de France] doesn't yet start for almost three weeks, and that the meaty part of it is a month away, any conclusion is going to contain an element of guesswork," he begins his analysis on The Gruppetto. 

Understandably though, Tadej Pogacar is front and centre of Hatch's thoughts. "Let's start with the winner, Tadej Pogacar’s last defeat in a stage race happened almost two long years ago," Hatch notes of the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader's impressiveness. "Even when he doesn't win the GC, he wins stages, so on 99 victories, we can assume that he'll join the 100 club at some point during the Tour."

"This past week was as impressive as ever, but there was perhaps a TT weakness, maybe a bad day, supremacy everywhere else," Hatch continues. "But history teaches us that the race is won towards the end of July, and not this early. It also tells us that Pog is not infallible, though he has a sensational record. He does continue to look like he's on his way to being the greatest of all time. He now returns to altitude, going to Isola 2000, works on his TT for a bit, and then will go home."

Whilst there is a lot of mutual respect in the rivalry between Pogacar and Vingegaard, could there also have been mind games at play on the final stage of the Dauphine, when Pogacar didn't even bother to contest Vingegaard in a two-up sprint for 2nd place behind Lenny Martinez. "What about the mind games? We saw a slightly different side to Pog, didn't we?" Hatch question rhetorically. "And some ex-pros have said the non-sprinting on the last day, slowing up the day before as well, allied to comments he made after that stage might have been a mistake," concludes the experienced British commentator.