Rivals Slam UAE’s Senseless, Energy-Spending Tactics and Pogačar Dominance

Four stage wins out of 10 on offer for UAE Emirates-XRG. Five days in the yellow jersey. A comprehensive lead of 3 minutes 36 seconds for Tadej Pogačar as the 2026 Tour de France passes its halfway stage Wednesday.

The gluttons for glory are leaving few crumbs this July. Fans are starting to boo from the roadside and the peloton frustration is showing, too. Rival team managers are sounding off about their dominance.

“There are also other unwritten rules that should be respected. Everyone has their own point of view, but for me, it does [cycling a disservice],” Movistar sports director José Joaquin Rojas told Spanish news agency EFE. “I think that in the end it ruins part of the spectacle because the beauty of cycling is having battles for different objectives.”

Both Matteo Jorgenson and Derek Gee-West have suggested that another reason for their hard-riding, beyond winning a fifth Tour title Pogačar and supporting Isaac del Toro in the fight for the white jersey of best young rider, is to win the team classification.

They want it all.

Speaking about their stage nine display Sunday where the Slovenian star’s team chased an all-star breakaway hard to the point winner Mathieu van der Poel was within sight at the finish, Rojas added: “I did not understand anything UAE did. I talk with 85 percent of the directors, and they all think the same thing.”

The Spanish team manager believes the Tour is already decided.

Stage 10 on Tuesday was another case of UAE Emirates-XRG not letting any escape get significant freedom on Bastille Day before Pogačar delivered the killer blow.

45 seconds’ lead gone in one kilometer for Carapaz

The man who came closest to springing a surprise was EF Education-EasyPost rider Richard Carapaz, with an enterprising move up the road on the Puy Mary, 38 kilometers from the finish in Le Lioran.

Sat in the shade of his team car post-race, head sports director Charly Wegelius was acceptant of what had happened. They were pursuing a “third path” to a stage win, he explained to Velo, by taking their chance, not counting on an early breakaway going away or a Pogačar solo victory.

Before the first-category Puy Mary, he told Carapaz that if he had the legs, this was the climb and the time to go up the road: “Because the other [next] one’s too hard and we had a chance to move before UAE were using Yates, McNulty and so on.”

It looked like the pink-clad pedaller had a chance of a thrilling stage win as he gained over a minute’s lead.

However, his 45-second advantage evaporated in one kilometer after Pogačar’s devastating attack to victory on stage 10’s penultimate climb, the Col de Pertus.

Wegelius: ‘Forget the idea of gifts’ in pro cycling

“We did everything we could,” Wegelius said. “At this stage, I think we’ve seen enough that no-one can be surprised [by Pogačar and UAE’s tactics]. Of course, you have to take it into account.”

However, Wegelius will not accept his team failing to try to win, despite the growing inevitability of the Slovenian’s success.

“There’s obviously many days, many race situations where the fact that a third party might step in later and close the race down means you need to take the chances you have.”

What does Wegelius make of his peer Rojas’ statement that UAE Emirates-XRG are doing a disservice to cycling and of their dominance?

“I think we should forget the idea of gifts,” Wegelius says. “You can make a convincing argument for either version of it. If I had Pogačar in our team, or I was Pogačar, would I want to win every single race that I could? Of course.

“So should they not try and win now? They want to win, quite rightly, so they’re obviously taking every chance they can to do it. It’s a race, isn’t it?”

UAE chasing team classification, too

“The only viewpoint I have is that they spend a lot of energy,” Wegelius added. “So that’s their choice, their tactic.”

Perhaps it is all part of their talked-about team classification quest. After all, “Pogi” domestiques Florian Vermeersch and Tim Wellens confirmed to Belgian newspaper HLN that they are “quietly going for it.”

The secret is out. Clearly, cycling’s dominant team wants it all, but this is a rare competition in which they have to play a lot of catch-up: Lidl-Trek have a 24-minute lead.