Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar had nothing but praise and best wishes for rival racer Remco Evenepoel after the Belgian was forced to quit the race on stage 14 on the slopes of the Tourmalet.
Third overall in 2024, Evenepoel had once again been running third behind Pogačar in 2025 and leading the Best Young Rider's competition when he abandoned.
After finishing second on stage 14 behind breakaway Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) Pogačar paid tribute to the Belgian star, the only rider to beat him in the stage 5 time trial at Caen, but who has been suffering badly in the mountains.
The Slovenian himself came through the third and final Pyrenean stage with his lead marginally bolstered after he shadowed Vingegaard to the line, then outsprinted the Dane for six extra bonus seconds. But rather than gain time, his key aim, he said, was to defend the yellow jersey and the considerable advantage he already enjoys.
"It's really sad to see Remco leave the Tour, he was looking on target to win the white jersey, and finish on the podium," Pogačar told reporters.
"I don't know why he abandoned, but it really sucks to lose such a class rider in the Tour de France.
"I really hope he recovers fast, and he can come back stronger, though," he then added half-jokingly, "I hope he's not too strong."
Pogačar confirmed that his main objective had not been to go for a stage win, but that his global objective had been to "defend the yellow and not be too aggressive."
"Arensman did a super race and he did one hell of a ride," Pogačar observed, "he was the strongest of a super-strong break."
"But we managed great, too, without making stupid mistakes. I think we did a good job."
Pogacar said that he had some nerve-wracking moments on the descent of the Tourmalet, following his teammate Pavel Sivakov in what he described as "a white fog."
"When you've been riding super hard for 2.5 hours and come to the top of the Tourmalet, you think, oh, now we'll descend easy and have time to recover," he recalled.
"But instead, there was really thick fog on the top, it was misty and there was a slippery road, you come when you are a bit tired and you still need to focus on downhill, basically you see 20 metres ahead. But we went really conservatively."
Pogačar's lead on Vingegaard has now stretches out to 4:13, as well as taking an extra handful of seconds on Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), newly moved up to third after Evenepoel's abandon and now 7:53 behind. But the principal gain for the Tour leader from stage 14, apart from seeing how well his team could work in the mountains even without a top support rider like João Almeida, who abandoned from a crash, was how he continues to dominate the race.
There was further good news for Pogačar in the extreme long-term too, after French television confirmed that Slovenia is formally requesting a Tour de France Grand Départ in 2029.
"I never imagined that could happen, I've always been a bit jealous that French riders could have start like that in home village, so it's amazing," Pogačar said.
"I hope I'm still racing in 2029 and if I am, I'll be there [at the Tour] for sure. It's a dream."
