‘The gap from amateurs to me is the same as from me to Pogacar’: Bouwman and Oomen stunned by Tour de Suisse dominance

Bouwman believes the scale of Tadej Pogačar’s superiority can best be understood through his own experience of racing amateurs.

At local summer events, the former Jayco AlUla rider sometimes competes against riders who have already completed a full day of manual work before getting on their bikes.

They can ride at an impressive level, Bouwman says, but the difference becomes obvious as soon as a professional decides to increase the pace.

For him, that is the closest comparison to racing against Pogačar.

“I genuinely think the gap between those amateurs and me is the same as the gap between Pogačar and me,” the two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner and former mountains classification winner said on the In het Peloton podcast.

“The difference is that I have not spent the whole day laying paving stones. I am a professional cyclist too. I do everything I can to perform, but the gap is still extraordinary. It is almost impossible to put into words.”

That sense of disbelief has become increasingly familiar inside the professional peloton. Pogačar’s latest display at the Tour de Suisse only strengthened the feeling that beating him at the Tour de France may require something extraordinary.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader won three of the race’s five stages and completed the general classification 6:32 ahead of his nearest rival. It was the largest winning margin at the Tour de Suisse since the Second World War.

Sam Oomen experienced Pogačar’s superiority at close quarters. The Lidl-Trek rider had arrived in Switzerland believing he was ready to perform off the back of an intensive training block, included specific preparation for racing in the heat and he tested his form at the GP Gippingen shortly before the Tour de Suisse. What followed was sobering.

“I had trained hard and prepared for the heat, so I thought I was in reasonably good condition,” Oomen said. “At Gippingen I was able to race near the front. Then I entered the Tour de Suisse and it felt like stepping into a boxing ring. I just kept taking punches.”

Pogačar landed the first one almost immediately. Despite having spent a month away from competition, the world champion attacked during the opening stage with more than 70km remaining. His advantage quickly grew into minutes, leaving riders further down the road struggling to understand what they had witnessed.

“After that first stage, I heard so many riders saying to each other that they had never experienced anything like it,” Oomen recalled.

For Oomen, the scale of Pogačar’s dominance was difficult to comprehend, with the Slovenian and his UAE team racing at a level far beyond the rest of the field.

“One team, and one rider in particular, was so far above everyone else that it was difficult to comprehend how fast he was riding,” he said.

“You are doing everything you possibly can yourself, but the difference is still enormous. I don’t know whether disillusionment is exactly the right word, but it is the first word that comes to mind.”