Tadej Pogacar's rival in the Tour de France will be Pogacar himself: Johan Bruynell analyzes his form

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) seems to have no rival these days in world cycling, having swept most of the competitions he has entered this season and on July 5th he faces the challenge of defending his Tour de France title.

The 26-year-old Slovenian runner is considered unlikely to win and secure his fourth crown in the world's most important race.

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His victory in the last Critérium Dauphiné had a different tone than his previous ones, as he achieved it by destroying his main rivals: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal), who succumbed to the power of the young cyclist.

What was seen in the Dauphiné lab confirmed that Pogacar is the best, that he's the leading candidate to win the race and that he'll let the rest fight for the other two podium spots.

“It's been a beautiful week. We can happily go off and prepare for the Tour. Our form is very good. We'll see if we can improve a little,” said the cyclist after stepping off the podium at the Dauphiné.

This year, the runner has had a dream season, leaving nothing to chance and working hard to erase his rivals.

Pogacar has competed in eight races and has finished on the podium in all of them; he has finished at least third, but never outside of those positions.

From there, he has won five titles (UAE Tour, Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders, Liège and Dauphiné) and has won the same number of stages, which clearly demonstrates his immense power.

Johan Bruyneel, former cyclist and coach, spoke about what he saw at the race and shared his thoughts on what could happen at the Tour.

“After the time trial, I thought we had a close race ahead of us. We don't know what happened to Pogacar that day, but he wasn't good. That made it interesting… but then in the mountains, he let Vingegaard and Remco go like he did…” said Bruyneel.

He added: "With these guys, teams aren't as important. Visma may be stronger, and with their numerical superiority, they might isolate Tadej, but when he attacks, there'll be no one left, just Jonas."

Bruyneel points out that, in terms of teams, both UAE and Visma are almost evenly matched.

“Jorgenson could be the key, but the UAE will have Almeida or Yates, who are at a relatively similar level,” he said.

There's no doubt about it, Pogacar is the best in the world right now. No one can beat him, but the Tour is the Tour and no one can say they'll win it before they even get on their bike. But it's clear he's the favorite.

"They can only gain an advantage if they don't finish at the top or there are many kilometers between ports, but if they finish at the top, no team will be important," the Belgian said.

The former US Postal team guide, where American Lance Armstrong excelled, said he expected the rivalry between Pogacar and Vingegaard at the Tour to become closer.

"If Pogacar accelerates, only Jonas will be able to keep up with him, and the question is how long. For everyone's sake, let's hope the gap between them narrows at the Tour," Bruyneel explained.

Finally, the former coach made a forceful statement, implying that Pogacar will have no rival in the Tour de France.

"Tadej Pogacar's biggest rival in the Tour is Tadej Pogacar. If he rides intelligently and attacks when he needs to...after what we saw in the Dauphiné, I don't really know how close the others can be," he concluded.

These days, Tadej Pogacar has been spotted at a training camp finalizing details for his assault on the Tour de France, a race in which he is seeking his fourth crown after triumphs in 2020, 2021, and 2024.