It probably shouldn't have started from Wellens. But when the Belgian found himself in front of the journalist from L'Equipe in Singapore, he thought it best to tell it all, opening the door to two days of Pogacar at the Tour that had so far gone unnoticedStages 17 and 18, we head towards the Alps: there has been a lot of talk about this in the last few days, without however making a connection between the day in Valence and the following one.
«During the Valence stage – Wellens said (the two are together at the start) – Tadej told me: “Tim, we have a problem, my knee hurts terribly.”So much so that he went to the doctor's car to get checked out. After the race, he went to the hospital for tests, which found inflammation or something similar. Nobody knew! I was convinced he would retireHe suffered a lot. We had doubts about his ability to finish.
Valence is the day of the Milan's second victory At the 2025 Tour, a tense stage with 1.660 meters of elevation gain. Rain and cold. According to some, Wellens' reconstruction does not take into account an episode that happened the following day, which instead explains the Slovenian's wait-and-see tactic on the Col de la Loze and the few smiles on the top.
Chaos at the departure from Vif
Before the long-awaited Alpine finish on the mountain of Courchevel, which in 2023 it had cost Tadej all his dreams of glory, something unusual actually happened. Pogacar was the victim of a first… close encounter with VismaWe were leaving from Vif, a small town in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The buses had been lined up on a narrow street where, between fans, team cars, and vans, there was barely enough room to pass.
And just as he was heading towards the start, with a taping on his right knee that wasn't there the day before, the world champion had a rather disastrous collision with a team car Visma Lease a BikeTadej ended up with his chin on the car and laughed about it at the time, while his press officer Zhao Haojang, who was pedaling next to him and suffered an equally harsh blow, seemed less amused.
“We were heading towards the starting line,” Pogacar said, “and we were pedaling behind that team car, maybe a little too close. And all of a sudden, I don't know if he wanted to test my brakes and see if they worked, he blockedBut I wasn't ready because there was no one in front and in fact I don't understand why there was a need to brake so suddenly.. Anyway, everything is fine, things went worse for my friend Zhao."
The attack on the Madeleine
In reality, this is what the entourage of the UAE Emirates, In the collision Pogacar also hit his right kneeThe Visma riders were quick to explain – especially Vingegaard and Jorgenson – that this was not how they wanted to gain an advantage. However, they knew about the problem that had started in Valence and That day they attacked hard from the Madeleine.
They didn't get any kind of result, actually, but here's why. that day Pogacar gave up chasing O'Connor, seemed so annoyed with Vingegaard that he pulled up alongside him and looked him in the face, and then finally attacked, gaining another lead. Without a single word about what had happened that could sound like an excuse.
“It was a relief,” Wellens reiterated, “that he didn’t give up in the mountains. Everyone was wondering why he wasn't attacking, but we were worried about him, physically and mentally too.I was surprised to read that he was looking forward to going home, because, between us, we were having so much fun."
Everyone waiting for the Visma plan: announced, kept hidden, whispered and ultimately left in the drawer. vingegaard He explained why he thinks 2026 could have a different flavor. We can't wait for the ride to begin again. Without incidents and oddities like the ones we've just told you about.
