Pogačar likens himself to Novak Djokovic after French crowd boos: 'Haters gonna hate'

Tadej Pogacar was looking to get revenge in Le Lioran after his loss to Jonas Vingegaard two years ago. The Slovenian rider from UAE Emirates-XRG succeeded in doing so, and afterward gave a flash interview that was unusually candid for him. He talked about his legs giving out, the French crowd, and the new earpieces the team were using.

Two years ago, Pogacar went solo early on in the Massif Central, but Vingegaard caught up to him, and the Slovenian was ultimately beaten by the Dane. Ahead of this tenth stage, everyone expected that Pogacar would be looking for revenge for that day. “And I took that personally…, ” to quote basketball player Michael Jordan.

"It was truly an incredible day today. The team did a fantastic job. We’d had our sights set on this stage for a long time," Pogacar began. “Two years ago, Jonas beat me here in the sprint—to be honest—and today I had a similar feeling in my legs during the final stretch: I was really completely spent.”

"But I really enjoyed the day. In the final stage, I didn't realize I was going to win until the very last kilometer. That's when it occurred to me that it was Bastille Day (the French national holiday, Quatorze Juillet—ed.), and I wanted to do the yellow jersey full justice. I also want to thank all the fans who lined the route in droves today,” Pogacar said, addressing the French people.

"There was a great atmosphere, even though there was some booing here and there. To all those people who were booing, I'd like to say: you actually just gave us even more strength," the UAE Emirates-XRG team leader added in a statement.

At the press conference, Pogacar also spoke further about the boos. ‘I certainly have haters, and haters gonna hate,’ he got straight to the point. ‘It’s always like that, although in cycling it’s not such a big deal. In tennis or football, there’s a lot more booing, and people are much more likely to turn against a team.’

Because, as Pogacar knows: ‘In tennis, it’s one against the other, so naturally it’s 50/50.’ It is precisely from tennis that Pogi draws his motivation. ‘I always think of Djokovic, of what a great mentality he has. I think he has one of the best careers in that respect, even with the booing. That’s not necessarily hatred, because he’s the greatest.’

‘When someone shouts “boo”, I always think of Djokovic,’ Pogacar repeated. ‘It is what it is. I must also say that it’s not a big deal in cycling. 99 per cent of people cheer for everyone. If you see children from one family, one is wearing Visma, another Groupama and yet another UAE. You can see they have favourites, even within a family, but it’s lovely to see all the cycling fans.’

‘I think they’re the best of all sports, so I think we should be grateful for that. To all the people shouting “boo”: know that it gives my team-mates a boost. That’s just adding fuel to the fire.’ Signed: Tadej Pogacar.

Pogacar received very little information along the way. “It’s funny, actually, because we were testing new earbuds today. But whenever there were really large crowds, I couldn’t hear a thing over the radio. So for the last ten kilometers, I had absolutely no idea what the time gaps were or who was doing what.”

"The only thing I was thinking was, 'Keep going until the top.' I knew the climb very well—we’d scouted it just yesterday," he continued. "But there was a little bit of doubt in the back of my mind because of that finish two years ago. Jonas came back then, and I’d been completely left behind in the sprint. That was definitely still on my mind until the last few hundred meters.”

So in 2026, that didn’t happen, and Pogacar claimed his third victory. “I think the Tour has gone perfectly for me and the team so far. This course suits us very well. Today, for example, was a perfect climb for each of our riders, allowing everyone to do their job perfectly. In the end, I was able to finish it off nicely. Isaac (Del Toro, who did lose time, ed.) also did a great job. He tried to keep up with the rest; he’s a real fighter and is still very much in contention for the top spots.”