"Where has Pogacar failed? We're not at the point where you'd start doubting him" - José de Cauwer

Tadej Pogacar showed a very different face during the final week of this year's Tour de France, mentally fatigued and clearly looking to end the race to take some time off, but the questions regarding if he'd reach the peak of his career can be laid to rest. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG remains unbeatable, and has been more relaxed over these past few weeks of racing, winning both World and European Championships with relative ease.

In Drôme-Ardèche, he had a big task of handling several Belgian riders when the race exploded with over 100 kilometers to go, but he responded to all attacks. "Maybe we should think carefully about that for the future. Now we're having our domestiques work, in advance. Maybe we should keep our domestiques in check and hope that later, if he does break away with 70 kilometers to go, we can still do something," José De Cauwer argues for Sporza. "Whether that will work, I don't know". Trying to match the Slovenian isn't a tactic that has so far worked for anyone, the commentator argues the Belgians could have experimented with the opposite tactic of what they did on the road.

"You really have to work on the flat. You can't work uphill. That doesn't count. It's the valleys that do it for him. You can close the gap there. On those bends, which were there here as well, the domestiques get exhausted. I don't think there's any other method for the time being". The idea is of chasing down Pogacar after he attacks, keeping the block united and then hoping to close the gap somewhat on the flat roads.

"What's also added to this is that Pogacar said in the interview that he was trying to hold on to that minute. It's incredibly impressive that he's doing it that way. Then you might think: does he have a surplus or not? Apparently, because they're not putting any more pressure on him, we don't know if he still has a surplus. That minute, that's the problem. He's circling around there, closing the gap by five seconds at one point, but then he adds seven."

The truth is the Slovenian rode away when he attacked and then just rode on as the chasing groups broke up and eventually only Remco Evenepoel was left. This has been the exact same formula over the past two races. And Pogacar shows no signs of slowing down. "He probably knows himself well enough, with his wattage and his heart rate. He'll know that no one in his life has ever come closer to him if he does this or that. It's still Pogacar. Where has Pogacar failed? We're not at the point where you'd start doubting him."

"I also briefly talked about it with Remco after the World Championship road race. Remco said it himself 'It's Pogacar, isn't it?' You can give him a slap on the ear, but he'll swallow it and then he'll be back. They're going into the winter now. He can work on it and try to get closer. Will he get closer? That's the million-dollar question, and it will cost even more."