Unexpected criticism for Pogacar: "He may have made his first mistake just weeks before the Tour"

On day one of the Dauphiné, a sprint was expected in the town of Montluçon. Vingegaard caused a sprint between Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), and himself for the first leader's jersey. The world champion won that sprint, but afterward, we saw the Slovenian sharing a nice moment with Vingegaard.

The two opponents shook hands and congratulated each other in a brief interaction. Commentator José De Cauwer also enjoyed that moment. "The openness and sportsmanship between Pogacar and Vingegaard... A smile that I have rarely seen between them, looking openly into each other's eyes as we would do without any jealousy or hostility. They were actually two newcomers who, after crossing the finish line, said to each other that what they had done was good. I thought that was a wonderful image,“ said the Belgian then.

After a very sporting week, during which we saw even more friendly interactions between Pogacar and Vingegaard, criticism of the world champion came from a somewhat unexpected corner via X. Philippe Gilbert shared his opinion the day after the Dauphiné. “With just a few weeks to go before the Tour, Pogacar may have made his first mistake in his career by not being humble towards his opponents,” said the Belgian former rider.

“It's a mistake of a youngster that can be easily rectified because I'm sure that his true nature will quickly return, and his positive image will also return,” Gilbert added. It is unclear on what basis the Belgian came to this conclusion.

From day one, it was a super intense race in the Dauphiné, with Vingegaard right away challenging his rivals in the hilly stage. It was awesome to see, but all that pushing and pulling took its toll. "You can clearly see that they're tired. They don't race here like in the Tour, because this Dauphiné only lasts a week. Otherwise, Pogacar wouldn't attack so early," De Cauwer said earlier in the Dauphiné.

He also saw a potential pitfall for the Slovenian. Especially after the penultimate stage, De Cauwer noticed the unnecessary eagerness to attack. "You wonder if that's necessary. Afterward, he said he was tired of Visma-Lease, a Bike's poker game. They even tried it downhill, which he was ‘not amused’ by. Apparently, that's enough to go for it immediately. Pogacar can thank Sivakov for returning and leading the way through the valley. Otherwise, you'd get a hail of attacks there."

Both Pogacar and Vingegaard will return for a short altitude training camp between the Critérium du Dauphiné and the start of the Tour de France. Pogacar will head to Isola 2000 and skip the Slovenian championships. "I once dreamed of winning that jersey (Slovenian champion's jersey, ed.) one day. But now I have the rainbow jersey so I can wait another year for the Slovenian jersey,“ Pogacar said with a wink after the Dauphiné in the flash interview. ”When I no longer have this jersey, I might go back."

Vingegaard will also not be competing for his national title in Denmark. The Dane is heading to Tignes, where Visma | Lease a Bike often trains in the summer. There, the number two in the Dauphiné hopes to continue improving his form. "Especially the speed on the longer climbs. I hope to take another step forward in the coming weeks."