VALENCE, France (Velo) — Tadej Pogačar comes across like a Boy Scout on two wheels, a rock star who charms fans and rivals alike.
Yet some voices inside the Tour de France are suggesting the uber-successful Slovenian is starting to show hints of arrogance.
It’s a common complaint that comes with the territory of being the world No. 1 in the dog-eat-dog world of the Tour.
Pogačar shrugged off suggestions that he’s morphing into a 21st-century version of a Tour patron.
“Arrogance is [one] thing, or trying to win the Tour de France is another thing,” Pogačar said Wednesday. “I think a lot of riders would see us as arrogant yesterday if we don’t, for example, try to calm things down when we want, or we are the ones who control every single kilometer of this race.”
Pogačar, despite his tremendous success and public scrutiny, remains largely calm and patient with the public and media across the Tour.
When asked on Wednesday if he was becoming too cocky, Pogačar first asked who was saying that, and then suggested some should keep their opinions to themselves.
“I think we have to look at our side, we don’t try to be arrogant. We try to make it a race as easy as possible,” Pogačar said. “I think some guys can stay quiet in their opinion, and this will sound super arrogant.”
Politt defends his boss: ‘We were controlling the stage’
So who’s been chirping off?
Mostly former pros and TV pundits.
Yet this is the first time that there’s been some public grumbling and direct criticism of cycling’s newest GOAT.
Tom Dumoulin, speaking on NOS, said he believed that Pogačar was attacking Vingegaard unnecessarily in the race when he already held a comfortable lead.
French national coach Thomas Voeckler — who is working now as an in-race commentator for French TV — had a go at UAE teammate Nils Politt, whom the Frenchman accused of bossing the peloton during the Mont Ventoux stage and shutting down attacks from non-threatening riders.
Politt countered by saying they chased down attacks that were coming when riders were stopping for a nature break, breaking one of cycling’s unwritten rules.
“We were trying to control the stage. In one moment, the break was gone with 1:20. Tadej stopped for a pee, and when the yellow jersey stops for a pee, half the bunch stops for a natural break,” Politt told Sporza.
#TDF2024 – Dumoulin on NOS about yesterday Pogacar attack: “This is a pure bluff, it’s a mere show of strength. Pogačar is three minutes ahead, he doesn’t need to do this. He does it just to annoy Vingegaard. It has something to do with arrogance.” (1/2) pic.twitter.com/evJy3tUTLA
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 18, 2024
“They started attacking in front again when there were still 30 or 40 guys back in the cars,” Politt said. “I learned this in my career, that if the yellow jersey stops there is quiet for a moment and everybody stops attacking. But maybe there is a new rule in cycling, and we have to learn about this.”
Earlier in the Tour, UAE’s Tim Wellens also denied the team has a “black list” of riders who are not allowed to ride into breakaways.
‘The big ones crush the little ones’
Still, some complaints are bubbling up as the Tour heads into its final decisive phase across the Alps. Nerves are wearing thin.
Jean-René Bernaudeau, TotalEnergies team manager, also claimed that UAE shut down breakaways that he says were never a threat to the team.
“There is a kind of caste; the big ones want to crush the little ones. It must be denounced,” he said on French radio. “Everyone is free, we don’t have the same jersey and we don’t defend the same interests.”
Some have suggested that Pogačar and UAE Emirates-XRG are taking on the role of the peloton’s “patron,” the old-school idea of a strongman holding almost dictatorial power over the peloton.
Jean-René Bernaudeau pousse un coup de gueule contre l’équipe UAE Emirates de Pogacar sur le Tour de France.
Ce mardi, l’équipe UAE Emirates avait empêché la formation d’une échappée lors de la 16e étape du Tour.
➡️ https://t.co/xXswu7VpTH pic.twitter.com/IHhG0ir17v
— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) July 23, 2025
UAE sport director Joxean Matxin Fernandez told Velo that the team is simply racing to win the Tour.
“The most important thing is to win the Tour in Paris,” Matxin told Velo. “A big group pulled away [on Mont Ventoux] because we are looking at the bigger picture. Tadej rode a very smart race. The Alps are still to come, and you must respect your rivals.”
Despite showing interest in winning Mont Ventoux, Pogačar decided to race more conservatively on Tuesday, and UAE allowed a big break go up the road that eventually won the stage.
The modern Cannibal checked his appetite for the bigger picture.
Is Pogačar cycling’s new patron?
Many of today’s pros and team managers have no idea what a true “patron” of the peloton is like.
Back in the eras of Bernard Hinault or Lance Armstrong, these riders ruled the bunch with an iron fist, often deciding when the peloton would ride hard, who could go into breakaways, and sometimes who even might be allowed to win stages.
Those days are long gone, as every team and rider brings individual goals to almost every stage.
Still, that doesn’t stop the peloton from admitting the obvious. With Pogačar on an unprecedented roll unseen since the days of Eddy Merckx, everyone inside the peloton knows that ultimately Pogačar calls the shots.
Even Tadej can’t have chocolate sometimes
Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar was temporarily unable to satisfy his chocolate craving during Stage 17.
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#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/LNEeFJZdyE— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 23, 2025
Whether that’s arrogance or simply being the best is up for debate.
“There’s obviously the Pog factor; he wins when he wants to win,” Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale’s Oliver Naesen told Velo. “If he wants to win a stage, he wins. There will be no doubt about that.”
Pogačar and UAE are also aware that winning too much can backfire during a high-profile public event like the Tour de France.
Contested on open roads, fans can sometimes turn against riders or teams when they lose the public pulse. Naesen said Pogačar has the right instincts not to push too far.
“I think he also realizes, especially in a country like France, winning too much doesn’t make you all that popular,” Naesen said. “He’s very smart with his team. They let breakaways go. They could have chased down the break that won with Healy [stage 6] without much effort.”
Racing into the Alps with respect
The UAE goes into two brutal stages in the Alps with a formidable lead, but he’s humble enough to know how quickly things can turn.
Both years that Pogačar lost the Tour to Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023 came with troubles in the Alps.
Col de La Loze (Meribel)
vs
Col de la Loze (Courchevel) pic.twitter.com/li5Ma3BCQO— Gregarios de Lujo (@gregariosdelujo) July 23, 2025
Pogačar said Thursday’s Col de la Loze stage deserves respect, not arrogance.
“Tomorrow is super hard, it’s a queen stage of the Tour,” Pogačar said. “I’m looking forward to the stage. I hope I have good legs and that I can revenge my own legs from two years ago, because it’s one of the stages that I really like.
“It’s also decisive for the Tour. So I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Nothing arrogant about that.