Pogacar wants to help Tour ally Evenepoel attack Vingegaard: "We can ramp up the pressure"

Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel have formed a strong bond at this year's Tour de France. With the Belgian from Soudal-Quick Step gearing up to make aggressive moves in the third week, the Slovenian from UAE-Team Emirates is willing to lend a hand. Post-stage 17, the duo discussed their strategy for the intense final stages and the mountainous challenges ahead.

"Another day down, a good day with a fast start. It was like a 125-kilometer junior race," Pogacar analyzed after in the flash interview. The yellow jersey holder's attack on the penultimate climb and his strong finish in the sprint were described by Pogacar to the media as "just stretching my legs."

"I don't even know why I attacked today," was his candid response to the question of why he went on the offensive after an apparently calm finale. "I felt good and saw an opening, but maybe wasn't thinking clearly with all those Visma guys at the front. I gained a few seconds on Jonas and I'm happy with that."

Pogacar's attack ultimately triggered a counter from Evenepoel, who rode with Jonas Vingegaard towards the yellow and continued alone on the final climb. "Remco was really strong, but Visma | Lease a Bike was very strong as a team. If Vingegaard is alone, Remco and I could put even more pressure on Jonas. Then the outcome might be different," Pogacar hinted at a potential collaboration in the Alps.

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Evenepoel hesitates about going all-in

The big question is: can and will Evenepoel attack in the remaining mountain stages? In his flash interview, the Belgian was still somewhat uncomfortable with this situation, where he finished ahead of Pogacar and Vingegaard. "Maybe I should have jumped more aggressively, but it's all still new to me. I felt like Jonas was on his limit. When Tadej went, I was the only one who could more or less keep up."

This could mean something for the final week, in which Evenepoel is third, but after his attack on Wednesday, he also moved within two minutes of Vingegaard. "I still felt good and there was someone else in front. In the earpiece, they said: 'If it slows down at the foot of the final climb, go immediately.' That's what I did. And Jan (Hirt, ed.) dropped me off at the last kilometer, as I had asked."

"I'm still not ready to go all-in on a four-kilometer uphill finish," Evenepoel concluded. "In the end, it's ten seconds or so, which is all good. But the fact that the difference to the guys behind me was 2'30" was even better. I think Tadej could react now, but since I was more than five minutes behind him, there's room to let me go and let Visma | Lease a Bike and Jonas do the work. That can be to my advantage, but we're mainly going to stick to our basic plan. That's a place on the podium and the white jersey. Maybe there's also a stage win in it, but anything I can show and experience here is a bonus."