It’s a relationship that has been blossoming ever since the Tour de France's Grand Départ when they praised each other for their attacking riding. The story then continued on the white roads of Troyes, where they both had sharp words for Jonas Vingegaard after he refused to get involved in their aggressive racing on the gravel climbs. In the trio of riders that make up the podium places, the Dane is the odd one out. Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar share bags of Haribos behind the Tour de France podiums, and they both believe that their way of racing bikes is the best way.
Their approach is markedly different from that of Visma-Lease a Bike who favour the strategic, methodical approach to Grand Tour victories. The contrast in mentality is clear: Vingegaard practises pragmatism and caution while Pogačar and Evenepoel have a taste for riding offensively.
The similarities between the pair is clear in both their riding styles and demeanour off the bike. Neither are afraid to speak candidly to the press, providing journalists with some punchy quotes (notably about which riders have “balls” in this year’s Tour) and neither are afraid to take some risks and attack at crucial moments. Although there is only one year between them in age, Evenepoel is in his debut Tour de France participation while Pogačar is on his way to winning his third. The UAE Team Emirates rider has clearly inspired the way Evenepoel races, and there’s a sense that it won’t be long until the Belgian can more closely challenge Pogačar for yellow.
(Photo by James Startt)
“Always when watching him [Remco] on TV, he was looking like a proper champion, he doesn’t give a shit about anyone else, he does his own thing,” Pogačar said of Evenepoel on Monday. “He was always winning everything, we never raced each other really in the last five years, and now we have finally come together in a Grand Tour and my respect has grown so much for him in this Tour. The way he is riding in the bunch, he’s not nervous, he is really respectful to everyone in the bunch. I like to race against him, he’s a super class rider.”
Evenepoel’s insatiable hunger to win is reminiscent of how Pogačar is performing in this Tour de France. Now with four stage wins in this race to his name, the Slovenian rider is certainly not giving out any favours to breakaways: he’s riding like a ruthless champion. Like Evenepoel, Pogačar is not worried about upsetting people. If his attacks destroy the opposition, that’s their problem.
“Tadej and I both like to attack pretty far away from the finish. Jonas is sometimes a bit more defensive, but we have to accept it,” Evenepoel commented last week after the gravel stage. “Everyone knows that Tadej and I like to ride stages like Classics,” he added.
(Photo by Billy Ceusters/ASO)
At the end of the queen stage to Isola 2000 on Friday, Evenepoel expressed his surprise that Vingegaard refused to work with him to close the gap to Pogačar who attacked on the steepest slopes of the climb. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider defended his actions because he said he was racing to defend his podium position. This is where the difference lies: Pogačar and Evenepoel only race to win.
“I hoped Jonas was going to work with me straight away but he didn’t want to, or he couldn’t, but that’s his right to defend second place in GC,” Evenepoel said after the finish. He went on to add that he’s going to go all-out to win the time trial stage on Sunday. For Evenepoel and Pogačar it’s all about the top step of the podium.
As the Tour slowly reaches its conclusion, there are various takeaways from the three weeks of racing. One of the biggest is this divide between two schools of racing that has manifested itself in the top three riders on the podium. In the past, the style of Visma-Lease a Bike has proved the most successful, but this Tour is swinging in the favour of Pogačar and Evenepoel’s firecracker attacks and sharp tongues. Jonas Vingegaard might not be enjoying it, but it’s making for some exciting battles for those of us watching at home.
Cover image by Billy Ceusters/ASO
