You thought you knew Tadej Pogačar, huh. You thought he’d be on the attack in the opening stages of the Tour de France, keen to take time on the Classics-like terrain. You expected him to attack on the third-last climb on stage two, 10km from the finish in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

But this is a different Pogačar. Patient, more reserved, less eager. Playing a longer game. He’s still gaining time – 39 seconds over Remco Evenepoel on stage one, and two extra bonus seconds over Jonas Vingegaard on stage two after he finished second behind winner Mathieu van der Poel – but UAE Team Emirates-XRG are preaching a game of perseverance and caution.

In the final kilometres of the second stage, it was Vingegaard and Evenepoel who went on the attack, with Pogačar happy to sit in the wheels and follow.

This article was published during the 2025 Tour de France. You can read the full article here.