De Cauwer addresses Van der Poel regarding Pogacar: "Vingegaard and Visma have thrown in the towel"

In the mountainous races of recent weeks, however, it’s become clear that Pogacar can’t be stopped when there are 3,000, 4,000, or even 5,000 meters of climbing. He won the World Championships, the European Championships, Tre Valli Varesine, and now also the Tour of Lombardy, all with little resistance. Riders like Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel have tried, but in 2025, all efforts proved futile.

So, during the post-race analysis of the Tour of Lombardy on Sporza, De Cauwer indirectly addressed the race organizers. “Tadej Pogacar is absolutely beatable. If you organize a 100-kilometer race with only 500 meters of climbing tomorrow, he can be beaten. But as soon as it gets hard, he just stands out so much.”

In Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, and the opening week of the Tour de France, it was Van der Poel who truly challenged Pogacar. After Il Lombardia, De Cauwer believes those are the kinds of races - where Van der Poel and other classics specialists can win - that hold the most potential for drama. “At Paris–Roubaix, you saw one of the most beautiful things we witnessed this year.”

De Cauwer was referring to the battle with Mathieu van der Poel, which was cut short by Pogacar’s crash some 10 to 15 kilometers from the finish. “That was the one time he finally had to lose out. Other than that, he was almost always the best. Just look at Vingegaard. I get the sense he’s already thrown in the towel a bit. At Visma, they seem to have realized they might need to start chasing different goals.”

A strong statement from De Cauwer. Has everyone really given up? The Belgian analyst still has a secret card for the spring classics: “I’m especially looking forward to seeing Wout van Aert in the classics.”