Another Tour De France has come and gone. For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed watching this race, and this year came with much anticipation.
Tadej Pogacar is a once-in-a-lifetime rider to watch. Having really dug into watching cycling just a few years ago, I don’t really know racing without him. Because of that, it’s sometimes hard to really appreciate just how incredible he is. But I’m often reminded of his dominance because he is the top competitor of my favorite rider, Jonas Vingegaard.
In utterly astonishing fashion, Pogacar took the lead early in this year’s Tour. But the last week of the Tour fit Jonas’ strengths; some people, including myself, were not ready to call it, despite Tadej having several minutes over Jonas.
Unfortunately, Jonas didn’t make it to the last week of the race.
In stage 15, he crashed, and with a fractured collarbone, he left Le Tour De France 2026. I was gutted watching this. Having two boys, I’m in and out of watching the race and just catch tidbits here and there. So, when I checked back in towards the end of stage 15, I was very confused as to where Jonas was because he wasn’t riding alongside Tadej. But then, much to my disappointment, I found out my favorite rider left the race with an injury.
The Tour took a bit of a somber turn from there. Sepp Kuss, Jonas’ teammate, was able to go for a couple of different stage wins. His most prominent chance for a win, stage 20, fell from his grasp after two crashes. One was breathtakingly close to going over a guardrail, which would have led to a very steep drop-off. Many people say the net that helped catch Sepp Kuss quite likely saved his life.
While much excitement still took place throughout the race, it’s a bit like watching the Super Bowl when the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t in it. It’s just a bit different when your team isn’t competing and in the fight.
Nonetheless, Tadej still put on a spectacular show throughout the race. He even helped a teammate, Isaac del Toro, place third in the GC standings and let go of a couple of likely stage wins for himself to help del Toro to the finish line.
I was reminded of last year’s Tour, when Tadej was seemingly bored throughout the final stages of the race and kept alluding to missing home and family. Tadej wasn’t bored this year, and he looked in much better spirits, but seemed to be putting energy towards different places than just winning the GC. He spoke very kindly about Jonas after Jonas crashed out. And we now know that Tadej even reached out and messaged Jonas to wish him well. And helping his teammate, del Toro, put Tadej in more of a domestique role in a few stages, which is where a rider will take the brunt of the hard work by blocking wind and pacing.
There is no doubt that Tadej is a competitor, but I wonder if part of his returned joy in this year’s Tour was that he was willing to step out of the main focus of winning the GC and take on some different roles. Tadej celebrates his own success, as he should, but the cameras equally caught him celebrating his teammates’ wins and even Mathieu van der Poel’s win in stage 21, a rider on a different team than Tadej but one who had a ride of a lifetime to wrap up the Tour de France.
Tadej really grew on me this year, and I appreciate him reminding me that it’s okay to have goals I’m working towards and things I’m aspiring to accomplish, but I should still take time to look up and see if there’s anything along that journey that could use my attention, too. There’s the saying that “the joy is in the journey, not the destination” – Tadej showed us that joy can certainly be found in both.
I wish Visma – Lease a Bike had a better Tour on multiple levels. I’m eager for the next race when Jonas and Tadej get to toe the line again. But with Visma – Lease a Bike having the Tour that they did, I got to see the Tour as more than just a fierce competition. And I’m hoping that, as I get stuck in the mundanity of my own repetitive life at times, I can take a step outside of the mundane and see things with eyes anew, and notice things that never caught my eye before.
Warmly,
Kylie Larson, MA, LPC
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