Like McEnroe and Borg or Senna and Prost, the idea has taken hold that Pogacar and Wingegaard represent two very different ways of interpreting their games. On a superficial level, it helps that Pogačar’s smiling enthusiasm contrasts so seamlessly with Vingård’s more reserved detachment.
The different atmospheres around their team buses – the warm handshakes between UAE Team Emirates staff, the cautious fist bumps on the Visma-Lease A bikes – only underline that initial impression.
Even their shaving habits have been considered a point of difference. “I can’t grow a mustache, so no,” Pogsar said with a smile when asked if he would copy Wingegaard’s new facial hair.
The difference in their tactical approaches to the Tour, meanwhile, was clearly illustrated on the Chemins Blancs around Troyes on Stage 9, when Vignehard’s cautious decision not to co-operate with Pogésar’s attacks was met with disappointment from Maillot Jaune. Had to face. It served to give rise to caricatures of everyone present in the popular imagination. Here was Pogacar, the impulsive risk taker who was always running for it. There was Vingegaard, conscious of decisions, always thinking about tomorrow.
The truth is that each person intended to ride the stage in the manner that best suited their abilities that day. Pogačar has a tendency to win races on gravel, while Wingegaard was quite cautious about his chances, especially after his short build-up. As Philippa York points out on this site, there is no obligation on Wingegaard to begin racing on this Tour until he feels ready to do so.
Nevertheless, the perception remains that Pogacar and Wingard represent two different tactical ‘schools’ of cycling. If Pogačar’s pressure on gravel was the cycling equivalent of Pep Guardiola’s high press, the thinking was that Wingegaard was ‘parking the bus’ in the manner of Jose Mourinho. The debate continued on Monday’s rest day – “It wasn’t a lack of ‘balls’, I was just working smart,” Wingegaard said – although Pogacar confessed when he reported for the start of Stage 10 in Orléans. Well, he was tired of the whole topic. on Tuesday.
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“Whether you’re intelligent about this racing thing or not, it’s just nonsense in cycling,” Pogsar said. “At the moment, I’m in the leader’s jersey. For me, it’s wise to be ahead with a good margin. In the Tour de France, intelligence is important, but to win you have to have the best legs.”
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Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates sporting manager Matxin Joxian Fernandez was reluctant to delve too deeply into the reasons and reasons behind Wisma-Lease A Bikes’ strategy. In the Tour, as in any race, each squad runs as they wish, no more and no less.
“You can really only talk about what you do yourself. I don’t have all the information, so I can’t really give a solid opinion,” Matxin explained. cyclingnews In Orleans. “I don’t know why they did it, but I have immense respect for my rivals and I’m not going to criticize them.
“Everyone is free to do what they want to manage their strengths and limit their weaknesses at any level. Perhaps in this case, they were looking to minimize their potential weaknesses in an area that Wasn’t favorable to him – but that’s just an opinion I don’t know all about his thinking.”
There were question marks over Vingegaard’s preparation for this Tour given the serious injuries he sustained in a massive crash in the Itzulia Basque Country in April, but the two-time champion has been solid so far, moving closer to the midway point in third place , Just 1: 15 runs on Pogsar’s yellow jersey.
At his sabbatical press conference, Pogačar rejected the idea that he was intimidated by Vingegaard’s condition, and warned Wisma of “trying to break him mentally”. Matksin acknowledged that occasional mind games are part of trying to win on Tour.
“The psychological side is also obviously important, the message riders send to their competitors,” Matxin said. “But what is clear at this point is that Tadej is very strong, he is in better shape than he was for the Giro, so we are just focused on doing as well as possible with Tadej and the team. If others are better or worse than before, over time we will see that you don’t win the Tour with your words, you win it with your feet.”
Last year, Wyngaard won the overall by beating Pogacar in the third week of the Tour, and Visma-Lease A Bike is again basing its strategy on the Dane’s endurance powers. It seems the idea is to remain in the hunt until the final stage of the Tour in the Alps and that novel final test in Nice.
Matksin disagreed with the idea that Pogsar had any qualms about Wyngaard’s skill in Week 3. After all, Pogacar caused an upset to Jumbo-Visma at the end of the 2020 edition when he snatched the yellow jersey from Primoz Roglic on the final day.
“Tadej won the 2020 Tour on his own merit, and he also won the 2021 Tour on his own merit,” Matsin said. “The 2022 Tour was lost because of a bad day by Tadej, so we lost it. In 2023, he (Visma) won it, he won it in the time trial. Now in 2024, we have won it in the time trial Instead of losing. We know things can change from day to day, but I can tell you that Tadej is solid, he is calm.”
Puy Marie and the Pyrenees
Pogacar certainly enjoyed a quiet afternoon on Tuesday when the Tour restarted after the first rest day, finishing safely in the main peloton to maintain his 33-second lead over Remco Evenepoel. As he took a seat in the press conference truck, he acknowledged that the journey from the Massif Central to Le Lioran on Wednesday would be more eventful.
“They made it a little longer, but the final of the stage is very nice and explosive, with good climbing,” Pogsar said. “It’s really hard to predict what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
The only certainty is that Wingegaard and Pogasar will watch each other closely since the climb of Puy Marie. While Wingegaard’s actual status was a mystery before this race, Pogsar feels the Dane has given a solid indication of his level so far.
“Yeah, I have a pretty good, strong sense of that and I can even see my numbers,” Pogsar said. “So far, we went very fast in the time trial, we were 20 seconds faster than the record in San Luca and we also set a record time on the Galibier. He is in quite good shape, so of course he will be more ready for the final. The reassuring part is, but we’ll see in the Pyrenees how strong he really is.”
In other words, there comes a time on every tour when conversation stops.
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