Growing irritation between Evenepoel, Pogacar, and Vingegaard? "Something is festering, finally a bit of animosity"

The gravel stage in the Tour de France delivered quite a spectacle. Early breakaways, many gaps, and ultimately no differences. The latter was mainly because not everyone wanted to work together. Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogacar, and Jonas Vingegaard were at odds, and the stage results did not make them any closer as friends. This marks a break from the usual friendly, respectful relationships among the world's top cyclists, observes columnist Thijs Zonneveld from AD. And he quite enjoys it.

"They hug each other. They give out high-fives. They pose together for photos. They speak sweetly and respectfully about the others in every interview. They joke on each other’s social media posts. Nothing but respect, nothing but love. They often seem like best buddies, the top cyclists of this world. Mattie and Taddie, that rascal Remco, Wout, and crazy Primoz - and Jonas, of course, when he comes down from his mountain," Zonneveld opens. "It’s almost as if they all grew up together. As if they’ve known each other for twenty years, as if they went to nursery school together and kicked a ball around on the field behind the school."

Something is brewing among the top competitor: "There are minor quarrels in this Tour"

In this Tour, the big names do not always work perfectly together. No matter how friendly the relationships, some irritation creeps into the race, especially among the three top classification riders: Pogacar, Evenepoel, and Vingegaard. "I secretly enjoy seeing a bit of friction among those few extraterrestrials. A minor quarrel, a simmering feud, a few jabs. And indeed: they are there, in this Tour."

"After Sunday’s gravel stage, irritation and frustration about Vingegaard’s tactics seeped into the interviews with Evenepoel and Pogacar. Pogacar scoffed that Vingegaard didn’t take his turn at the front because he was scared of him, Evenepoel insinuated that Vingegaard lacked 'big balls'. In response to whether he is worried about his deficit, Vingegaard said that last year he gained seven and a half minutes in just two stages," summarizes the columnist on the nonchalance of these top riders.

"You can feel it in everything. It's brewing. It's fermenting. The gloves are off. The group chat has gone quiet, no more jokes are made, and no hugs are given out. They watch each other, they get under each other’s skin, they growl under their breath when they meet," concludes Zonneveld.