Tadej Pogacar inspired by Novak Djokovic as Tour de France leader extends advantage amid boos on Bastille Day - 'They gave us more power'

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Tadej Pogacar says he has drawn inspiration from Novak Djokovic's ability to handle hostility from crowds after the Tour de France leader was met with occasional jeers during another commanding stage victory on Bastille Day, securing his 24th Tour stage win since his debut in 2020.

Pogacar sends message to 'booing' fans

Video credit: TNT Sports

The Slovenian produced a dominant display to extend his overall lead to nearly three-and-a-half minutes at Le Tour, but amid the celebrations, he also faced boos from a small section of spectators on the roads through the Cantal region.

Rather than allowing the reaction to affect him, Pogacar said he looks to Djokovic’s resilience when dealing with criticism.

”Haters gonna hate, it’s always like this," the defending champion told reporters. "I always think about tennis, Novak Djokovic, how great a mentality he has.

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"He had one of the toughest careers about this, about getting boos and unnecessarily, because he’s the greatest. When someone is booing, I look up to Novak Djokovic and think about him."

Pogacar added that negative reactions are rare in cycling, with the overwhelming majority of fans continuing to support every rider.

”In cycling, it's actually not so much booing, it’s like 99 percent of people are cheering for everybody," he continued. "Cycling fans are the greatest of all the sports, so we should be happy and grateful to all the fans.

"Even though there was some booing, to all the guys that were booing, they gave us more power."

Watch: Peerless Pogacar CRUSHES field to take Stage 10 victory as Vingegaard trails in

Video credit: TNT Sports

The four-time champion said he had been targeting the mountain stage for a long time and was forced to draw on memories of his previous defeat to Jonas Vingegaard on the same finish two years ago.

Pogacar attacked with 15km remaining on the 166.6km mountain stage from Aurillac to Le Lioran and maintained his gap to the finish, crossing the line 32 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel.

Despite feeling exhausted in the closing stages, Pogacar held his advantage to claim the win and further strengthen his position in the yellow jersey.

French teenager Paul Seixas followed in third, while Vingegaard finished 44 seconds back in seventh.

The result extended Pogacar's advantage over the defending champion to 03'26" in the general classification, while also delivering a memorable victory on France's national day.

"Today was an incredible day," added Pogacar. "The team did a super good job. We have targeted this stage since a long time ago. And, yeah, it also happened that two years ago, Jonas beat me in a sprint, fair and square.

Watch: Pogacar cracks Vingegaard and breezes past Carapaz - 'Like watching two different sports!'

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"Today I had similar legs at the finish, completely destroyed. But I enjoyed the day and, at the end, I didn't know I was going to win until the last kilometre.

"Then I remember it's Bastille Day, and I tried to honour the yellow jersey. Thanks to all the fans that came to the road today. It was an amazing atmosphere."

The Slovenian also praised the strength of his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team, highlighting how each rider played a role in setting up the stage for his decisive move.

"I think so far the Tour has been perfect for me, for the team," Pogacar added.

"It suited us really well. Today, for example, there were perfect climbs for each one of the riders in the team. So everybody could do their job.

"In the end I could finish it off. Also, Isaac [del Toro] did super good and tried to follow the rest. He's a fighter, and he's also there now fighting for top spot."

For Pogacar, the challenge now is to appreciate the moment rather than look too far ahead.

The 27-year-old acknowledged that opportunities to compete for cycling's biggest prizes are not guaranteed.

"You never know how long [a career] lasts," he reflected. "We just need to be grateful for this moment to be riding here in the biggest race of the world. It's in France, not so far from our homes.

"I need to enjoy this moment. I saw a lot of Slovenia flags also on the road, so you need to enjoy the race."

British rider Tom Pidcock recovered from a crash on the Puy Mary descent to finish ninth on the stage and move into 10th overall.

Watch 'unusual' incident as Pidcock crashes on descent

Video credit: TNT Sports

Stage 10 results

Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3hrs 58mins 8secs
Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +32secs
Paul Seixas (Fra/Decathlon-CMA CGM) +34secs
Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) Same time
Juan Ayuso (Spa/Lidl-Trek) +38secs
Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) Same time
Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +44secs
Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1min 31secs
Tom Pidcock (GB/Pinarello-Q36.5) +1:59
Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain-Victorious) +2:03

General classification after stage 10

Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 36hrs 15mins 2secs
Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +3mins 36secs
Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4:06
Juan Ayuso (Spa/Lidl-Trek) +4:22
Paul Seixas (Fra/Decathlon-CMA CGM) +4:35
Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4:44
Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +5:08
Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +5:45
Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain-Victorious) +6:34
Tom Pidcock (GB/Pinarello-Q36.5) +11:49

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