Pogacar's calorie consumption compared to the competition raises eyebrows: "If you can ride so economically..."

The sixth stage of the Tour de France towards Dijon was tense. There was a constant threat of crosswinds throughout the day, with yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar even finding himself briefly isolated against a majority of his rival teams. Nevertheless, as Johan Bruyneel noted in THEMOVE podcast, the Slovenian did not waste as much energy, both literally and figuratively.

"I went on Strava and did some digging. First thing I saw was Matteo Jorgenson," Bruyneel refers to the rider from Visma | Lease a Bike. "He's a big guy and as a co-leader, he also has to do some work for Jonas Vingegaard when needed. Looking at his Strava file, you can see he burned more than three thousand calories. He's naturally big, but riding with Jonas in the wind also means he's taking on quite a bit of wind."

"Then I looked at Remco Evenepoel's," he continues. "He's a small guy who rides very aerodynamically and is constantly protected. So, he doesn't catch much wind." Evenepoel burned 2735 calories in the stage won by Dylan Groenewegen. "That's the difference between someone doing some work and someone being protected."

Bruyneel: "Pogacar is still riding within himself; we haven't seen the best of him yet"

"Next, I looked up Tadej Pogacar," Bruyneel continues, noting the Slovenian had only burned 1781 (!) calories. "That shows how good he is and how easily he moves through the peloton. He uses very little energy and therefore rides very efficiently."

"Jumbo-Visma used the tactic of burning a lot of calories last year, but let me say one thing: with this Pogacar, it's not going to work. He has never been in such good shape. If you can ride so economically... And you can see it too: when he crosses the finish line, he's so fresh. You hardly see that he has raced. For now, I think we haven't even seen the best of Pogacar yet; he's still riding within himself. But a lot can change in a week, especially since he already has the Giro in his legs," stated the former team director. After the time trial, we'll know more...