Bakelants warns of enemies as Dumoulin questions UAE’s fading support

Tadej Pogačar's third stage victory in the opening ten days of the Tour de France strengthened his position as the dominant rider in the race. It also triggered fresh criticism of the way UAE are controlling the peloton.

Speaking on Belgian broadcaster Sporza’s Tour podcast, former Tour stage winner Jan Bakelants questioned how UAE are now viewed by the other teams.

“You have to wonder how they are perceived in the peloton,” Bakelants said. “When you keep the breakaway within a minute and refuse to give anyone space, you are not making friends.”

UAE spent another stage controlling a large breakaway before Pogačar finished the work on the road to Le Lioran. Bakelants believes the team could have allowed the escapees a much larger advantage without placing the yellow jersey under any serious threat.

“They could easily have given those riders 15 minutes,” he said. “Instead, they closed the gap and won again. When you become too greedy, it starts to frustrate the other teams. I would be interested to see how that is being received inside the peloton.”

Bakelants warned that UAE could eventually find the rest of the peloton turning against them.

“At some point, an alliance forms and everyone is against you,” he said.

The Belgian also questioned the physical cost of UAE’s approach. Pogačar's teammates have repeatedly been asked to ride hard from early in the stage, often controlling the race until the final kilometres.

“We saw that some of Pogačar's final support riders were perhaps below the level we expected,” he said. “Sooner or later, you would expect them to become tired. They are riding flat out almost every day.”

Tom Dumoulin raised similar concerns in is analysis for the Dutch broadcaster NOS, although the former Giro d’Italia winner focused primarily on the performance of Pogačar's team.

According to Dumoulin, the stage win masked the fact that UAE were unable to complete the strategy they had started several hours earlier.

“They rode at the front all day, but when it really mattered, they simply did not have the strength to close the gap.”

Pogačar ultimately rescued the team’s plan with another commanding performance. The Slovenian attacked late in the stage and rode clear of his rivals, delivering the victory UAE had worked for throughout the afternoon.

But Dumoulin insisted the result should not be mistaken for a complete team performance.

“Pogačar was desperate to win at Le Lioran because of what happened there two years ago, when Vingegaard beat him in the sprint,” Dumoulin said. “He was fantastic, but it was not because the team had been fantastic.”

Dumoulin argued that almost every UAE rider apart from Pogačar performed below expectations in the decisive phase of the stage. Isaac Del Toro also endured a difficult day, dropping out of the top three and losing the white jersey.

The Dutchman believes Del Toro’s struggles may have influenced the timing of Pogačar's attack.

“Pogačar obviously does not want his rivals to benefit from a bad day for his teammate,” Dumoulin told WielerFlits. “He would like Del Toro to join him on the podium in Paris. I think he waited a little longer in the hope that Del Toro could remain with the chasing group.”

Bakelants warned that UAE’s aggressive racing could leave them isolated in the peloton. Dumoulin’s concern is simpler: the team is burning through its support riders too early.

So far, Pogačar has been strong enough to finish the job alone. The question is whether UAE can keep racing this way all the way to Paris.