Pogacar's dominance: The unstoppable force in Tour de France 2024

Every cycling enthusiast was on the edge of their seat on Sunday when Visma | Lease a Bike attempted to attack Tadej Pogacar's yellow jersey. Only briefly, however, as the Slovenian had his response ready, somewhat diffusing the tension in this Tour de France. Former cyclist Tom Danielson, who finished eighth in the Tour de France in 2011, advises the Dutch team not to give up.

At X, Danielson outlines his analysis. "Visma used a Scorch the Earth strategy, where all riders clearly had their part to play. This was planned before the race, and they all executed it brilliantly, including Jonas. He also broke Pantani's record," the American refers to the final climb of Plateau de Beille.

"Due to the high temperatures, this tactic resulted in not only casualties but did it affect them as well? Certainly, they risked losing everything for the victory. Jonas was at an incredibly high level, confirmed by Tadej, who mentioned the pace was very high. The strategy was well executed, but it didn't work because Tadej was operating at a higher level than Jonas," Danielson explains.

"The gap between the two is widening every day because Tadej is slightly better, not the other way around as everyone says," outlines the American. "It makes no sense how Jonas could stay so lean & ripped with Tadej in the first days after not racing and then improve further. Tadej had already ridden a Grand Tour, but it's logical that the world's best rider would improve after a race block of three weeks, a month of rest, and then another three weeks," referring to the Giro.

Danielson: "Visma | Lease is going to try to put Pogacar back in the pack"

What should Visma | Lease a Bike do according to Danielson? "In my opinion, Tadej is still his only remaining true competitor. It seemed like he had the heat well under control, so he has learned from his mistakes. That is crucial for the rest of the race because he has made mistakes in the past. That's why Visma needs to keep the pressure on."

"The new narrative from Visma (which is already the third of this Tour) is now that they admit Tadej is better, but they are going to put on one last burn it all down performance like Sunday," Danielson predicts for the final week of this Tour de France. "That's how they're going to try to put Tadej back in the pack one more time."

In THEMOVE podcast, Lance Armstrong and company revisited the stage. "Earlier this week, we were critical of Pogacar for his unnecessary attacks and energy expenditure. But now he rode the perfect race. He stayed in the wheel of Visma and felt that Vingegaard couldn't drop him, which was the moment to strike."

"The Visma guys did what they had to do, but Pogacar is just too strong," concludes the man from Texas. "Even if Visma | Lease a Bike was at full strength in the Tour, it wouldn't have mattered much. Pogacar's record time speaks for itself," referring to the period when the Slovenian blitzed Plateau de Beille, more than six minutes faster than Armstrong himself in 2002 and 2004."