“Pogacar changed from an untouchable robot into a human”; Zonneveld sees Tour becoming “a real Tour” after Tuesday

For a moment, it looked like the world champion would speed away, leaving Vingegaard in the dust, but the Dane dug deep and managed to get back on the UAE star’s wheel. A moment we haven’t seen very often, as Zonneveld also noted. “I don’t know when the last time was that Pogacar had to sit down and tolerate someone coming back.”

“Never before on such a short explosive climb,” the Dutchman continued. “Normally he goes and you never see him again. Now he had to stand up on the pedals, which is already something.” Even though we’re still early in the Tour, the BEAT Cycling team boss sees this tension continuing. “There’s a chance we’re going to get a real Tour.”

A real Tour indeed, and Zonneveld has his arguments ready for that. “Vingegaard saw that Pogacar also had to sit down. At that moment, Pogacar changed from the untouchable robot, an alien who is basically too good for everyone, into a human. A human who also has his limits and boundaries. Vingegaard then closed that gap and they were together again.”

Podcast colleague Jip van den Bos also thinks that Visma | Lease a Bike, despite their leader Vingegaard being beaten, can be satisfied after Tuesday. “These are of course the first ten days. In that period, Pogacar has to take time on Vingegaard. This type of work suits Pogacar so much more. The team has to help Vingegaard by positioning him perfectly for the climb, and they are doing that,” said the Dutchwoman.

Both analysts were impressed by Vingegaard, but much less so by Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian from Soudal Quick-Step lost a bit more time and now sits nearly a minute behind Pogacar. “He lost it today because of cornering and positioning. During his attack, he just took two bad corners, which allowed them to catch him again for free,” said Zonneveld.

Van den Bos agreed, as she mainly questioned the timing of his attack. “Either he doesn’t know the course well enough, or he just lacks insight. It was such a strange moment to attack. Things did slow down a bit, but it was right before a corner that he also took really badly. You need to be very good at handling your bike to stay at the front there.”