Tadej Pogačar , one way or another, always sparks discussion. This time, it's Geraint Thomas who talks about the world champion and, in particular, the technical advances made by bicycles in recent years: " Would Tadej Pogačar have won the 2025 Tour de France on the bike I used when I won the 2018 Tour? No, he wouldn't have won it ," Thomas said during the Watts Occurring podcast, which he produces with his former teammate, Luke Rowe . "Tadej was ahead of Jonas Vingegaard by almost five minutes at the end, but he wouldn't have been able to do it on a bike ten, or even five, years ago. You have to think about all the extra fatigue he would have accumulated over the course of three weeks, compared to an opponent racing on a 2025 bike."

Rowe emphasized his former colleague's comments: "There's too much of a difference between a 2018 bike and one from today. The progress that's been made is enormous," the former rider, now sports director, thought. " If we look at it as a direct challenge on a single climb, Pogačar, riding an eight-year-old bike, could even be faster and win the challenge. But it would be too difficult to absorb all the disadvantages he'd face over the course of each individual stage. If he were equipped like he was in 2018 and Vingegaard were in his 2025 form, Tadej wouldn't have a chance of beating him at the Tour."

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency