Tadej Pogačar reveals hilarious Tour de France dream about ‘crazy downhill’ with Mathieu van der Poel

Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar produced a dream finale to the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday. The two riders have been battling each other for cycling’s biggest victories for several years and clearly have enormous respect for one another. In a behind-the-scenes video released by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, Pogačar even revealed that he had dreamed about Van der Poel during the Tour.

Speaking to his teammates at the breakfast table, Pogačar explained that he had dreamed about his rival the previous night. “I dreamed I was riding at the front with Van der Poel and that we went into a descent like crazy. A crazy downhill,” the Slovenian said.

“I dreamed that we were riding our bikes along the guardrails—the barriers that stop cars from going off the road,” he continued, telling Isaac del Toro about the unusual dream with a broad smile. “Then I suddenly hit the guardrail. It was crazy.”

“Then I checked my Whoop stress—the device Pogačar uses to monitor his sleep and health data—and it was extremely high. It must have been because of that downhill dream,” he added with a laugh.

“My stress is always very low at the beginning and in the middle of the night, but when I start dreaming in the morning, my stress goes through the roof,” Pogačar explained before turning towards the camera.

“Mathieu, if you’re hearing this: you’re causing stress in my dreams.”