Armstrong responds to Pogačar's domestique work for Del Toro: 'Ten out of ten times'

Tadej Pogačar once again brought the yellow jersey to Paris with a powerful display of dominance, doing so for the fifth time. The Slovenian rider from UAE Team Emirates-XRG was the undisputed master of the Tour de France, but chose to support Isaac Del Toro on the queen stage. On the THEMOVE podcast, opinions were quite divided on that gesture.

Pogacar won on Friday at Alpe d'Huez with a new record time. The queen stage that followed could normally have been another victory for him, had he chosen to go for it. But he opted to help Del Toro onto the podium. He put in a tremendous effort starting at the Col du Galibier and stayed with the Mexican rider in the final kilometers as well. It may well have cost him the stage victory.

Richard Carapaz claimed his second stage win, while Remco Evenepoel finished second. Evenepoel was disappointed to have missed the victory, but Pogacar could have closed the gap quite a bit, according to the guys at THEMOVE. George Hincapie also comments on the illness that has affected UAE Team Emirates-XRG over the past few days. Many of the support riders weren’t feeling well. “He only had Del Toro left, so it had to be either Del Toro or himself to close that four-minute gap,” said the American.

Sir Bradley Wiggins explains why he wasn't really happy with the decision. "You get used to being entertained by him," says the 2012 Tour de France winner from Britain. “It’s amazing to watch what he does, and the more he does it, the more you want to see. So I was a little disappointed that he didn’t go for it this time.”

Lance Armstrong can’t help but smile a little. “It wasn’t popular here,” he notes. “But what he did was really cool. Still, it wasn’t necessary. Seixas had been dropped, Del Toro was doing fine and would easily finish third. He had that in the bag. But it looked good. It’s safe for him to do that. It builds friendship and loyalty within the team, though there’s plenty of that there already.” Would Pogacar have won the stage otherwise? “Ten out of ten times.”

Pogacar and Del Toro crossed the finish line together and celebrated in style. The Mexican will finish third in the Tour de France, won a stage, and is also taking home the white jersey. This is indicative of a trend in cycling that has been highlighted during this Tour de France: the world’s best cyclists are getting younger and younger.

Paul Seixas is the poster child for that trend. The Frenchman made his Tour debut with a fourth-place finish in the general classification at the age of nineteen. “He’s the youngest rider in the Tour since 1937 and finished fourth,” Armstrong notes. “Pogacar became the best ever, in his early twenties. I was a bit critical of Seixas today, but Bradley asked, ‘What were you doing when you were nineteen?’ The answer: getting drunk and acting tough.”

Host Spencer Martin calculated that the average age of the top ten in the standings is 25.7 years, while the average age in the Tour is 29 years. That difference had never really existed before: the average age in the Tour had always hovered around 29 years, and the top ten was right in line with that. The fact that the young riders are performing so well says a lot.

Hincapie was hugely impressed by the young riders, especially Seixas. Seixas himself was disappointed that he wouldn’t be on the final podium. “I know the team wanted him on the podium, but he’s shown that he can handle three weeks of racing. He’s shown that he’s a future winner of the Tour de France,” he concluded.