Is Pogacar pushing too hard in the Dauphiné? "You wonder if it's really necessary"

Pogacar made his move with 12 kilometers to go. He left his Danish rival from Visma | Lease a Bike in his wake with a single acceleration. "You wonder if that was necessary," said De Cauwer on Sporza. "He said afterward that he was tired of Visma-Lease, a Bike's poker game. They even tried on the descent, which he was not amused by. That's enough to go for it immediately. Pogacar can thank Sivakov for coming back and taking the valley. Otherwise, you get a barrage of attacks there."

The difference between the yellow jersey wearer and the number two was only 14 seconds at the finish. "When you hear that Pogacar didn't want to exhaust himself, he first rode away by 30 seconds. But it took a lot of energy, and they have already weighed each other up pretty well here," said the Belgian, who saw 'a little tiredness in Pogacar.' “He didn't look very fresh, and his eyes were dull during the interview. But also Vingegaard, who got even closer by pushing hard in the last kilometer."

From day one, there was relentless racing in the Dauphiné when Vingegaard put his rivals under pressure on the hilly stage. It was great to see, but all that pushing and pulling took its toll. "You can clearly see that they are tired. They don't race here like on the Tour because this Dauphiné only lasts a week. Otherwise, Pogacar wouldn't attack so early."

Visma | Lease a Bike made the queen stage extremely tough and put pressure on the Slovenian from the start. That offers hope for the Tour, but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. "You can do all sorts of things, but if that man is the better rider, he's simply the better rider. Then he'll only get better, and the rest will get worse. Pogacar himself says some teammates are still in reserve for the Tour. Whether Vingegaard's team will be better than Pogacar's, I don't know."

To challenge Pogacar, Visma | Lease a Bike will have to wait until week 3 of the Tour de France. But then they must get through the first chaotic part in one piece. "That first week will be important for me. I think Pogacar is better equipped for that. He steers better through the peloton. So it could be a very nervous week for Vingegaard."

Evenepoel finished fifth at Valmeinier 1800, more than 2.30 minutes behind Pogacar. De Cauwer sees that the Soudal Quick-Step leader is not at the desired level. "You shouldn't sugarcoat it. We Belgians and those around him assumed he would be better on the climbs, even in this Dauphiné. He has never been in better shape. But I think people assumed that the difference would not be that big. Certainly not compared to Florian Lipowitz." The German finished third again, more than a minute ahead of the Belgian.

But Evenepoel's compatriot has not been ruling him out of the Tour just yet. "No, not at all, but they may have thought they were further ahead. It's possible that everything still needs to come together with the altitude training. The time trial was perfect, though."