Tadej did what he wanted and showed that aliens are human
2024 was the year of Tadej Pogacar. 2025 is the year of Tadej Pogacar. After having changed the first phase of the season, participating in the Spring Classics and only one stage race—the UAE Tour, imposed by one of his team's sponsors—the 26-year-old Slovenian didn't suffer from potential fatigue and once again crushed all the competition in the Tour de France, arriving in Paris this Sunday as the virtual winner, with a lead of over four minutes over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). The UAE Team Emirates-XRG cyclist won four stages between Normandy, Brittany, and the Pyrenees, and took advantage of the Alps to show a rarely seen side: that of a more controlled and rational Pogacar. History will be made of the fifth Grand Tour of someone who aspires to be the best.
The course of the 112th edition of the Tour de France began to take shape in the very first stage, in Lille. At the end of the first 184.9 kilometers, the wind decided to intrude on the local circuit and immediately created differences between the overall contenders, with Pogacar and Vingegaard arriving with the sprinters and gaining 39 seconds on everyone else. The following day, the climbs arrived in Boulogne-sur-Mer, with João Almeida taking over Pogacar's domestique for the first time, neutralizing all attacks in the peloton. On the finish line, the world champion threw himself headfirst into the wind and only lost to Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), gaining the first two seconds on Vingegaard and another six on the others. After a stage for the sprinters , the entry into Normandy promised to be another duel between the Slovenian and the Dutchman. It was confirmed, although the roles were reversed, with Tadej Pogacar, launched by Almeida, winning in Rouen and reaching 100 career victories.
On the fifth day of competition, the first time trial came, a 33-kilometer flat section in Caen. As expected, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) crushed the competition, but the main highlight was an exceptional performance by Pogacar, who lost just 16 seconds to the world champion, gaining 1.05 minutes on Vingegaard. With this result, the Emirates team took the lead in the overall, points, and mountains, only to lose them the following day, with Van der Poel returning to the yellow jersey by just one second after the Slovenian unsuccessfully attacked late on. The seventh stage could have changed the course of the Tour, but it didn't. On the first hill finish, in the Mûr-de-Bretagne, the Portuguese rider crashed six kilometers from the finish and ended up retiring from the following stages, leaving the Emirates team out of contention. Fate would have it that, at the top, Pogacar would win again and dedicate the triumph to Almeida, regaining the yellow jersey once again.
After a weekend dominated by sprinters , the first week only ended on the tenth day, on Bastille Day. In a stage with eight mountain stages, Emirates opted for a risky strategy and decided to hand the yellow jersey to the breakaway, easing their burden on the high mountain finish. Rival Simon Yates (Visma) even ended up winning, Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) took the yellow jersey, and Pogacar withstood all the attacks, gaining time on everyone except Vingegaard. After the first rest day, stage 11 promised to be calm, but it also became a Tour de France legend, with Tadej falling near the finish and colliding with a curb, which actually protected him. The incident ultimately left no major scars and revealed one of Emirates' new trademarks: the use of a white sleeve, in the world champion's colors, on the left arm to protect and cover the bruises.
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????️ At 26 years and 305 days, Pogacar is the 2nd plus young man who released the Maillot Jaune at 50 reruns on @LeTour ????Il n'est devancé que par Eddy Merckx qui avait 26 years and 20 days for the 50th day, in 1971. #TDF2025 #MaillotJauneLCL pic.twitter.com/0KbyEARKAT
— Maillot Jaune LCL (@MaillotjauneLCL) July 23, 2025
The impact was so small that, the following day, Tadej Pogacar achieved his hat trick on Hautacam, with a masterful climb in which he attacked and left Jonas Vingegaard behind at the start of the climb, gaining 2.10 minutes on him. The gap between the top two exceeded four minutes on the following stage, with the Peyragudes time trial reinforcing the Slovenian's dominance, winning the fourth stage and adding 36 seconds to Vingegaard's lead. In Luchon-Superbagnères, the breakaway triumphed again, through Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) , on a stage where the favorites could have taken victory, but Pogacar took advantage of Vingegaard's inaction to control and gain another six seconds. At the close of the second week, Tim Wellens gave Emirates another victory, which reached the final stretch of the Tour with a comfortable 4.13-minute lead.
The final week kicked off with the finish at Mont Ventoux, a stage in which Visma tried everything to leave Pogacar behind, but lost again in the end, with the Slovenian gaining two seconds on Vingegaard. After another victory for the sprinters , the Tour's crowning stage was again attacked by Visma, who managed to isolate Pogacar more than 70 kilometers from Col de la Laze. However, the Dutch team failed to manage the race and allowed the Emirates team to re-enter, which asserted control and, despite not reaching Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), saw the Slovenian gain another 11 seconds on the Dane. On Friday, in the shortened stage to La Plagne, the battle for third ended up overcoming the fight for victory, with Vingegaard failing to attack Pogacar on the special category climb. Given what happened, the world champion “let” Arensman isolate himself and win and, for the first and only time, finished behind the Dane, losing two seconds in bonus points.
This Saturday, rain returned on a penultimate stage marked by more crashes, allowing Tadej Pogacar to cement his virtual victory in the overall standings and the mountains classification. The breakaway took a while to form, but it finally came to fruition, with Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) attacking 16 kilometers from Pontarlier and winning for the first time on his debut in France, completing his Grand Tour victory trilogy. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) also joined the breakaway and was one of the day's big winners, overtaking Ben O'Connor in the battle for tenth place. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) is the virtual winner of the points classification, and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hasgrohe) is the best young rider.
You're not Philipsen. It's not Van der Poel.
This is Kaden Groves and has just entered the Olympus of winners in the three Grand Vueltas ????????????
????????? Iván Romeo went to the ground when he fought for victory.
????♂️ You have seen it on @Eurosport_ES and @StreamMaxES . #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/HjjNUTnFUg
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) July 26, 2025
Overall, this was a Tour dominated by Pogacar, who outperformed the competition and once again proved he's the best tour rider around. Beyond his four stage wins, the yellow jersey, and the polka-dot jersey, the Slovenian still threatened to challenge for the green jersey and showed a more rational side, finishing first on three separate occasions, depending on what the race demanded. This factor naturally became evident after Almeida's withdrawal, which forced Emirates to reinvent itself. In the collective aspect, Visma clearly prevailed strategically, but was never able to neutralize Pogacar's driving force. In the end, only eight riders will arrive in Paris less than 30 minutes behind the Slovenian, a 21st-century record, surpassing the nine from the last edition and in 2022.
However, this Tour de France brought out a different side of Tadej Pogacar, one never before seen. In the final days of the competition, the Slovenian appeared bored with everything that was happening and only thought about reaching Paris and his vacation. His good mood in interviews and his smile on the podium disappeared, and it was noted that on Friday, Pogacar spent less than 20 seconds on the podium, after having been involved in a heated exchange with an organization security guard at the finish line. One factor that may explain this change in attitude is the illness outbreak that hit Emirates before last week. "I have a bit of a sore throat and a stuffy nose," the Slovenian shared in interviews. On another note, the high averages in the first week, the constant exchanges with Visma, which even culminated in a "run-over" by a yellow team car before the 18th stage, and the pressure imposed by the press and spectators led Pogacar to unprecedented physical and mental exhaustion. After all, we're dealing with a 26-year-old who has already won almost everything there is to win.
observador
