Pogačar brushes off boos after stage victory

DARIO BELINGHERI/ GETTY IMAGES

Tadej Pogačar goes solo with little over 15km left of the stage

15 Jul 2026 - The Guardian

Jeremy Whittle

Tadej Pogačar extended his lead in the Tour de France with another imperious solo victory on the 10th stage to Le Lioran, in the Massif Central. The Slovenian now leads the Tour by more than a three and a half minutes from longtime rival Jonas Vingegaard, who wilted and lost more time to the other podium contenders.

Over a stage with seven categorised climbs, including the first category Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol and Col de Pertus in the final hour of racing, Pogačar again asserted himself over the peloton with a trademark attack on the penultimate climb.

His latest victory, however, was met with some boos from the roadside crowd, something not seen since the domineering days of Team Sky and Chris Froome, almost a decade ago.

“I have haters and haters gonna hate,” Pogačar said afterwards. “To all the booers who are there, they just give more boost to my teammates. They put wood on the fire.”

Pogačar clarified by stating that “cycling fans are the greatest between all sports” and that “99% of people are cheering,” but he pointed to tennis star Novak Djokovic as an inspiration to overcome his doubters.

“I always think about Novak Djokovic and the great mentality he has because he has had one of the toughest careers [with] getting boos and unnecessary hate because he is the greatest,” Pogačar said. “I always look up to him when someone is booing, and think about him.”

Despite Pogačar’s triumph, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro lost time in the fight for the podium, with Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel replacing him in third place.

Meanwhile Vingegaard struggled, though he was not too despondent with finishing 12 seconds adrift of Evenepoel. “I always struggle on short climbs like this,” the Dane said.

In recent days, though, Vingegaard has admitted that he considered walking away from the sport a year ago. Burnout in the peloton was an issue of debate towards the end of last year’s race and Vingegaard’s stuttering performance on the stage to Le Lioran came in the wake of his admission to Danish television.

“I said last year that if this was how it was going to be, I couldn’t be in it any more,” said Vingegaard, who survived a life-threatening crash in April 2024. “As a cyclist, you feel like you’re constantly on a diet. You always have to think about your weight, and you’re always out training. A lot is demanded of you. It takes a toll on your body and your mind.”

At the start of the 2025 Tour, the double champion’s wife, Trine Hansen, said: “It’s a really difficult life because there’s so much travel back and forth. It starts in February and then it’s back and forth every or every other week. It goes on until the season ends.”

At the time, his Visma Lease-a-bike team played down his comments. Despite his unhappiness, Vingegaard went on to finish second to Pogačar in Paris, an achievement that he may not repeat this year.

“That’s also why we changed some things. I also think the team realised that this was how it was, and they could also tell from me that I wasn’t happy last year. They accepted that we had to change something, and we did. If it is hard to be away for such a long time, then you have to do something else, and that is what we have done for me this year,” he said.

Although Vingegaard said that he is “much more” motivated this season, he now faces the doubleheaded challenge of both Pogačar and a pursuing Evenepoel.