Politt reveals Pogacar feared Col de la Loze could end his Tour - 'He was really worried'
Appearing on the Ulle and Rick podcast, Nils Politt detailed how Tadej Pogacar's knee problem during the final week of the Tour de France threatened to derail the Slovenian's entire race
Nils Politt has claimed that Tadej Pogačar's fourth Tour de France victory in 2025 was threatened by a knee injury that remained hidden from rivals, supporting earlier comments from Tim Wellens, and from the world champion himself about the jeopardy UAE Team Emirates-XRG found themselves in despite the Slovenian’s significant lead in the general classification.
Speaking on the Ulle and Rick podcast, hosted by Jan Ullrich and Rick Zabel, Politt revealed the anxiety that gripped the team after Pogačar injured his knee on Mont Ventoux.
“On that Mont Ventoux stage in the sprint, where he wanted to take a few seconds off Jonas [Vingegaard] again, he hit his knee on the handlebars," Politt explained.
"And then he had a big bruise under his kneecap. And the next day, or two days later, he came up to me. You could hear from his voice that something was wrong. He said, 'Shit, my knee hurts. I have really bad knee pain.'"
Politt informed team management, leading to medical assessments, including an MRI scan. While no serious damage was found, the injury created significant concern ahead of the crucial stage 18 featuring the Col de la Loze, a climb Pogačar had bad memories of from the 2023 edition.
"He was really worried, especially because the Col de la Loze stage was coming up," Politt said. "That was his stage where he said, 'Last time I completely cracked there.' It was the Col de la Loze from the other side, but still. He said that was the biggest blow-up of his career. So he had huge respect for that stage," said Politt.
The 31-year-old described the tactical approach that helped protect Pogačar. "We have to ride so hard that we break Jumbo so they cannot go any faster. So we completely smashed it into the Col de la Madeleine," he said.
"You have to keep quiet about it, of course. You cannot go out and say, 'Hey, Tadej has knee pain.' Because then they will think, right, we will roast him. They would hammer up the first climb and try to make it even worse."
Politt explained the relief in the team when the Tour reached Paris, though he revealed Pogačar gave him one last scare in the rain-soaked finale featuring the Montmartre climb.
"We were very happy when the Tour was finally over. Even when he said in Paris, he was going to take it easy. [laughs] Then you hear on the radio, 'I am in front', and you think, 'oh no'. No teammate with him, and he is up the road alone."
"But that shows how much he enjoys cycling. He just smelled an opportunity. He thought, winning on the Champs Elysées in yellow, that would be something too. He is a bit of a playful kid in that sense," said Politt.
Interestingly, Politt also illustrated how high the level is at UAE Team Emirates, revealing that staggeringly high numbers he and his teammates produce.
"At our December camp, there is basically never a clear plan. Some teams do team time trial practice, some do lead outs. With us, it is just full gas," he said. "I remember one training ride last year where I looked at the file afterwards, and the numbers were exactly the same as in the Tour of Flanders, where I finished third. And that was training."
Whilst his 2026 schedule is not finalised, Politt has revealed that he will focus on the Classics in the spring, and will not make his debut at the Giro d’Italia. The German has started nine editions of the Tour de France, but has yet to appear at either the Giro or Vuelta a España.
He could make a landmark tenth appearance at the Tour next Summer, and be part of a record-equalling fifth victory for Pogačar, having featured in the last two editions.
