Michael Jordan? Novak Djokovic? Usain Bolt? Tadej Pogacar compared to all-time greats after Stage 6 triumph at Tour de France

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Tadej Pogacar earned comparisons to basketball legend Michael Jordan and tennis great Novak Djokovic after a masterclass on the Col du Tourmalet during Stage 6 on Thursday saw him take control of the Tour de France yellow jersey battle.

'PlayStation' Pogacar 'in a different realm' to rivals

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The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader attacked on the punishing climb to drop rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), before extending his lead further to seize yellow in emphatic style.

Pogacar is chasing a fifth general classification triumph at the Tour and his third in a row, and his heroics on Stage 6 earned him a 2’42” lead over Vingegaard before the first week is up.

If Pogacar wins the Tour de France for a fifth time he would join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain atop the all-time list.

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The Slovenian’s performance on Stage 6 left UAE team principal Mauro Gianetti thinking of a basketball great when trying to describe his star rider.

"It's just a pure talent,” Gianetti said.

”It's like when Michael Jordan was just making the moves that the others were not able to.”

When those words were put to Pogacar, he thought of some other sporting heroes to aspire to when it comes to dominance in their field.

Highlights: Pogacar takes Stage 6 after dominating the Tourmalet

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"Michael Jordan, maybe I'm too young for him, but Usain Bolt, for example, when I saw him being so dominant, it was crazy to see," said Pogacar.

"He was like the top. It was really cool to see his mentality also. Or now, the last years, [Novak] Djokovic's mentality in tennis, this is just another level."

A 39-year-old Djokovic continues his quest for a record-extending 25th major title when he faces world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in a mouthwatering Wimbledon semi-final on Friday.

‘I couldn’t sleep I was so excited’

Pogacar could not contain his excitement ahead of the first big GC day of the 2026 Tour, and admitted it almost worked against him.

"I woke up way too early today, 7:00 in the morning. I couldn't sleep long because I was so excited for today,” the Slovenian said.

He had already enjoyed a win on Stage 3 after helping team-mate Isaac del Toro cross the finish line in first a day earlier.

Pogacar has now won two of the opening six stages to underline his status as the runaway favourite, while taking his overall tally to 23 career stage wins at the Grand Tour.

'The terrible twosome!' - Pogacar and Del Toro light up Tourmalet to leave Vingegaard in trouble

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"Already yesterday on the bus after the finish [there] was really big hype for today," said Pogacar.

"We were like, okay, let's go all in. What's the worst that can happen?

"We can blow out a little bit, but we knew that we are a strong team, so we said: 'we commit to one plan and whatever happens, happens'."

On Friday, Stage 7 sees the riders head to Bordeaux from Hagetmau in a 175km stage that only features 750 metres of vertical gain – giving the GC contenders a breather before tougher tests to come.

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