Tadej Pogacar 'almost makes a mockery' of Tour de France rivals after Tourmalet fireworks and solo masterclass
By Ben Snowball
Updated 09/07/2026 at 22:14 GMT+1
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Tadej Pogacar "almost makes a mockery" of his rivals, according to Robbie McEwen, after the Slovenian produced another breathtaking display to blow apart the Tour de France on Stage 6 and reclaim the yellow jersey with a trademark solo victory.
'PlayStation' Pogacar 'in a different realm' to rivals
Video credit: TNT Sports
Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) launched his decisive attack on the Col du Tourmalet, riding clear with only Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) able to mount a credible response.
By the finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, Pogacar had stretched his advantage to more than two minutes to claim a 23rd Tour stage victory and move back into the race lead after overnight leader Torstein Traeen (Uno-X Mobility) cracked on the hors categorie Tourmalet before crashing on the descent, and later withdrawing from the race due to his injuries.
Watching on in The Breakaway studio, Adam Blythe was left searching for fresh ways to describe Pogacar's dominance.
"He is not even a step above, he's a whole floor above everyone else. We know he's the greatest cyclist who has ever lived. But it's just the way that he does it," Blythe said.
"We chat about cycling not being PlayStation. But with Pogacar, it is almost PlayStation. You can just say, 'go and do that, go do this'. And he'll more often than not go and do it, not with ease, but he will constantly deliver.
"Today, pretty much everyone as soon as he got on the front, knew exactly what was coming. Can they answer it? No. Not one thing they can do about it.
"He is just an absolute legend of the sport, an athlete like I've never seen before."
For Vingegaard, it was another day as bridesmaid to a rider who once again proved untouchable.
The Dane initially managed to limit the damage on the Tourmalet, but Pogacar extended his lead on the descent before pulling even further clear on the Cat. 2 final climb.
Visma had hoped his victorious Giro d'Italia campaign in May would tee up a serious title tilt. Unfortunately, he has found Pogacar in irresistible form once more as his great rival hunts a record-equalling fifth crown.
"If Tadej Pogacar didn't exist, we'd be talking about what a freak Jonas Vingegaard is," said McEwen.
"But unfortunately for him, Tadej does exist. It's unfair, maybe, but he almost makes a mockery of the way the rest ride because he's just too strong."
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Pogacar ranked the victory among his five best Tour de France wins, having claimed a 23rd career stage victory to move within 12 of Mark Cavendish's all-time record of 35.
"He's putting on some displays that we might not see in our lifetimes again," added Matt Stephens.
"He is in a different realm. He really is. He's almost that good, he transcends sport. I think we are witnessing the greatest rider of all time."
The Tour catches its breath with two sprint stages on Friday and Saturday, with the opening week concluding with a lumpy trip to Ussel in the Massif Central.
Pogacar: I couldn't sleep due to excitement
Pogacar revealed after the stage that there was plenty of planning that went into the victory.
He said the team had started to discuss their tactics as soon as they had wrapped up the previous day.
"We were like 'OK, let's go all in, what's the worst that can happen?'. You can blow up a little bit, but we knew that we were a strong team.
"We commit to one plan and whatever happens, happens, because we have Isaac [del Toro] and me who are really good on GC.
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'The best bike rider in the world devours the biggest bike race in the world'
Video credit: TNT Sports
"So then I went to sleep, woke up way too early today at seven in the morning, and I couldn't sleep long because I was so excited for today. I chilled a bit in the room, went to breakfast, saw the guys, they were all hyped, did carbo loading, and had good coffees.
"I don't know how to explain it, but the energy in the air was perfect. The race went perfectly for us, actually; the breakaway couldn't go for almost two hours, so that brought us closer to the climbs, and then we could really do what we planned.
"Every team-mate was just incredible; they are crazy good guys and super happy to realise this hype that we had the last two days."
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