Domination, it seems, is not to everyone’s taste.
On stage 10 of the Tour de France in the Massif Central, the victor was once again Tadej Pogačar, his third triumph in the 2026 edition extending his lead in the GC to 3:36 to Jonas Vingegaard. He has never had such a comfortable lead at this stage of the race.
The tens of thousands of fans by the roadside on Bastille Day, however, were not united in joy in seeing another Pogačar win.
Speaking after the stage – his 24th victory in the Tour – Pogačar revealed that he had been the subject of booing from some spectators, though he didn’t specify how frequent it was.
What the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider did reveal was that negative comments directed towards him only serve as inspiration.
“For sure I have haters and haters gonna hate,” Pogačar said, sounding somewhat like the rapper Eminem whose short cut bleached blonde hair he has mimicked.
“To all the booers who are out there, they just give more boost to my teammates. They put wood on the fire.”
Though Pogačar has never been the subject of a vitriolic, toxic atmosphere in the same way Team Sky and Chris Froome were in the mid-2010s, neither was it the first time that fans have expressed their disapproval with Pogačar’s stranglehold on the sport.
“In this scenario, when someone is booing me or anyone… I always think about tennis and Novak Djokovic and the great mentality he has,” Pogačar continued. “He has had one of the toughest careers [with] getting boos and unnecessary hate.
“He is the greatest and I always look up to Novak Djokovic when someone is booing and think about him.”
Despite experiencing some unpleasant reactions from fans, Pogačar was keen to point out that cycling is not as tribal as other sports. “For example, in tennis or in football there is much more booing and people go against one player or one team because it’s one against one and it’s 50-50,” he said.
“I also need to say that in cycling there isn’t so much booing. 99% of people are cheering for everybody. I think cycling fans are the greatest among all sports so we should be happy and grateful for all fans.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
With regards to the race at large, Pogačar looks to have a near unassailable lead in the yellow jersey, with only illness or a crash likely to prevent him from winning a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey.
He has made a mockery of pre-race anticipation that longtime rival Vingegaard would be able to mount a credible challenge to the maillot jaune this July.
“I cannot say anything about the form of my competitors – I can just say that mine is really good,” Pogačar said.
“I think so far the Tour has been laid out really good for our capabilities as a team. With me and Isaac [del Toro] together, it was to our advantage in the first 10 days.
“Now we will see when the big mountains come like Alpe d’Huez [on stages 19 and 20] and the Markstein [on stage 14], as they’re really pure climbing days.
“I hope my form will also be good for these kinds of days, but for sure the competitors will also be ready for the big mountains.
“I need to be really focused and not get too ahead of myself, to keep calm and think about anything that can happen. In one day you can easily lose 30 minutes. I need to keep doing what I can and as a team we will see how things develop during the Tour. I hope it stays like this.”
