Pogacar at Visma | Lease a Bike, Vingegaard at UAE... In this parallel universe, everything is reversed

In cycling, it's hard to imagine the biggest stars riding for any team other than their current ones. Mathieu van der Poel has spent his entire career at Alpecin-Deceuninck, Tadej Pogacar recently extended his contract with UAE Team Emirates until 2030, and Wout van Aert signed an indefinite deal with Visma | Lease a Bike, ensuring he'll stay with the Dutch team until the end of his career. But what if things had turned out differently?

Scientists take the idea of multiple universes very seriously. The universe is constantly expanding, creating infinite possibilities. There could be a world where war doesn’t exist and everyone lives in peace or a world where fire was never discovered, leaving humanity stuck in the prehistoric age. This also means there might be a world where the biggest cycling stars took entirely different paths than the ones we know. With the help of AI, these alternate realities can feel just a bit more real.

Pogacar at Visma | LaB, Vingegaard at UAE...

According to that theory, there is a world where Mathieu van der Poel never joined Alpecin-Deceuninck. In this alternate reality, he might have embarked on an international adventure, perhaps leaving cyclo-cross behind entirely to focus on road racing. At Lidl-Trek, he could have found the perfect opportunity to pursue this dream. Meanwhile, Alpecin-Deceuninck would have had a vacancy for a top leader, a spot Wout van Aert would have eagerly filled. In blue, Van Aert would dominate the classics and cyclo-cross, but perhaps the Tour de France wouldn’t be as high a priority. The Belgian might not have become the ultimate super domestique he is today in this dimension.

At Visma | Lease a Bike, they were on the hunt for a voracious winner—someone who could dominate every race. With Van Aert absent, they signed a young Slovenian named Tadej Pogacar. In this alternate reality, Pogacar didn’t choose UAE Team Emirates because they already had a Grand Tour specialist: Jonas Vingegaard. Meanwhile, Vingegaard faced stiff competition from Remco Evenepoel, who opted not to sign with Quick-Step, instead choosing an adventure with Movistar, which he saw as the best opportunity.

This begs the question: who would rule the peloton in this universe? Previously, AI was used to generate a Christmas party featuring various cycling legends, resulting in humorous and creative outcomes.

Discover the parallel universe here:

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