Pogacar puts rivals to the sword on Hautacam: stage 12 Domestique Debrief

It was a sweltering day in the saddle for the riders of the 2025 Tour de France, with two unforgiving ascents to test their climbing legs after 11 days where the longest climb had been just over 5 kilometres. There was double that and then some on stage 12, as the race entered the Pyrenees for the first of three decisive days of action. 

Temperatures soared to 34 degrees Celsius, and the race was cooking too, with cracks appearing and the best-laid plans coming apart at the seams. For all but one rider, that is...

Visma | Lease a Bike tried everything they could to crack Pogačar on the first eleven stages of this Grand Tour: launching multiple attacks to try and draw him out; putting pressure on in the crosswinds wherever possible, and keeping the pace high at the front on breakaway days, never allowing their rival to rest. Even off the bike, tensions ran high, with petty feuds over feed zone behaviour and cross words exchanged over tactics which seemed to irritate the usually unflappable Pogačar. 

Was it all part of the plan, the wear him down and rile him up, causing him to expend unnecessary physical and mental energy? A loss of concentration that led to his crash in the final kilometres of stage 11 may have been a culmination of this niggling, yet following the sporting gesture extended by the GC group, the damage inflicted was only superficial. 

Visma’s final crack of the whip before the momentum swung in UAE’s favour was on the category 1 Col du Soulor, where they took over the pace-setting, upping the tempo to once again try and isolate Pogačar. It backfired spectacularly, succeeding only in tiring their own domestiques – in the end, Sepp Kuss was forced to drop the pace to allow Matteo Jorgenson and Simon Yates to rejoin the group, but later, at the foot of the Hautacam, the efforts of the first half of the race came back to bite Visma, as Vingegaard was left isolated, while Pogačar had three teammates around him – not that he needed them.

Visma have already admitted they need 'a new plan’, but whatever they throw at him, it was always going to be an uphill struggle - quite literally - against the might of the finest rider of a generation.

It was what we were all expecting. Perhaps, though, the manner in which it came about was ultimately still a bit surprising, though we should know by now, to expect all-out attacks from the Slovenian giant of the sport. Just a few hundred metres into the first HC climb of the race, and the world champion detonated the bomb he’s clearly been sitting on for 11 stages. Yes, we’ve seen plenty of examples of his explosivity, and he bagged two stages on much shorter, punchier finishes for his efforts. 

But despite crashing at the end of stage 11, there were no signs of wear and tear for Pogačar, who delivered on the promises made at the Critérium du Dauphiné last month, distancing his closest rival on a long climb. The distancing was emphatic, and the gap did not hold steady – it grew, and grew, leaving Vingegaard suffering further down the mountain. 

There remain unanswered questions as to whether Visma’s earlier tactics will pay dividends in the final week, if Pogačar finally begins to crack - whether under the heat, the pressure, or just pure fatigue – perhaps he could have stayed with his domestiques for longer today, and saved himself for the final part of the climb. But why wait? Striking such a decisive blow this early may allow UAE to sit back in later stages, knowing that anyone who dares challenge them will have to do so at their own risk.

12 stages in, and Pogačar has it all. He sealed his third stage win in style, took back the yellow jersey, and opened up a surely unassailable lead of 3:31 on GC. With a tough mountain time trial tomorrow, the world champ is likely to consolidate or even build on his lead, with almost all of the key climbing days still ahead.

It seemed as though the two Red Bull GC leaders might be trapped in a stalemate throughout the race. They rode the majority of today’s climbs together, still separated by just seven seconds on GC, in 8th and 9th position respectively. 

Germany’s young GC hope Florian Lipowitz was still riding for Roglič - this much was clear from his repeated looks over his shoulder and to check on his teammate’s condition. But the moment the call from the team car – or perhaps from Roglič himself came, it was clear to see. Lipowitz climbed out of his saddle and launched for the summit, leaving his senior teammate in his wake. 

The in-form GC rider at the team, and arguably the in-form GC rider of the peloton behind Pogačar, it’s not a surprise to see the German taking off, after an impressive second place at Paris-Nice and third at the Critérium du Dauphiné. He proceeded to close in on Jonas Vingegaard and will surely back himself to take aim at the podium – there is a world in which he may even find himself challenging Vingegaard to become the second-best rider at this race. 

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe may find themselves in a potentially awkward situation next season if they do land the signature of Remco Evenepoel; though there is still plenty of racing ahead, as it stands currently, Lipowitz could find himself the top GC rider at the team.

It goes without saying: stage 12 was an off-day for Remco Evenepoel. The heat was clearly getting to the Belgian, he was dropped on both the day’s key climbs, and the cracks have appeared early for the Soudal-QuickStep rider, who shone on his favourite territory during the time trial, but hasn’t been able to make any impact on the race otherwise. 

We’ve seen Remco have singular off-days in recent Grand Tours and fight back – his resilience is truly remarkable – however, he’s battling a fully fit Jonas Vingegaard and a version of Pogačar that exists in another stratosphere to everyone else. With other young riders nipping at his heels, Evenepoel will seek to consolidate his position over the next few days, but if he continues to struggle in the high mountains or with the hot conditions, he may face a decision – whether to pull the plug on his GC position and save energy for a stage raid in week 3, similar to the 2023 Vuelta a España which saw him win the KOM jersey and three stages following one early bad day in the mountains.

The white jersey competition could be the subplot we all need to get us through what is looking set to become a very predictable second half of the Tour, assuming Pogačar continues on his current stellar trajectory. 

Thankfully, the world champion is no longer eligible for the young rider’s jersey, but we find ourselves in a situation where four riders are in contention – both for the podium, and for the white jersey. Evenepoel and Lipowitz occupy third and fourth currently, but beyond them, the two riders who’ve perhaps been in the spotlight more than most others in week 1: Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin both dug deep on the final climb to finish fifth and sixth respectively, and though it seems likely that the white jersey battle will be waged between the Belgian and the German, the Frenchman and the Scot are only 55’ and 1:20 back – so it’s all to play for.

I couldn't leave today's piece without adding an honourable mention today for a gritty performance from Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility, who rode an extremely well-paced final climb to finish an impressive fourth on the day.

Moving two places up the GC, the Norwegian is a dark horse to make the top 5, and it’s a fitting reward for a rider who suffered a great deal of unnecessary abuse at the hands of online trolls following his stage 11 incident that inadvertently led to Pogačar's crash. 

Johannessen answered critics with his legs on the mountain today, and could go on to make further ripples as the race continues, among some seriously big hitters.