Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar claims 'I've improved' as rivals struggle in 'hellish hot' conditions
Published 11/07/2026 at 08:39 GMT+1
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Tadej Pogacar has come into his own in the last two stages of the 2026 Tour de France. While the Slovenian acknowledges the brutal heatwave conditions, he sees his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team as capable of combatting the conditions.
'A bit of toast' - Pogacar opens up about UAE 'party' after Stage 6 triumph
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The Slovenian leads his nearest rival, Jonas Vingegaard, by 2’42’’ after Stage 7, but memories linger over his experience at the 2022 edition.
Pogacar was already regarded as the man to beat four years ago, but when he was on Stage 11 in that race, he lost his yellow jersey and Vingegaard ran away with the Tour.
The circumstances that saw him lose then were relentless pressure from the then-Jumbo-Visma team, errors in keeping Pogacar properly fuelled, and the exhausting nature of the heat.
The conditions were so taxing that Pogacar responded to being dropped by opening up his jersey to try to cool down further.
Since then, Pogacar has changed to being coached by Javier Sola and focusing on his physical fitness.
He has added two Tours - 2024 and 2025 to go with his 2020 and 2021 wins - as well as notching 11 Monument wins as testament to his all-round dominance in the sport of late.
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Highlights: Merlier times late charge to perfection in Stage 7 sprint
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Pogacar acknowledged his improved conditioning, but also noted that the UAE Team Emirates-XRG approach to keeping him cool was far better than what he had gone through in 2022.
France is in the grip of an exceptional summer heatwave, with 35-degree heat for the riders to contend with.
"I think the biggest change, if I look at my physical capabilities, I'm a bit better than back then. Also I've improved, speaking about mentally, mine is growing as well and my experiences," Pogacar said at his press conference in Bordeaux.
"I think one of the biggest changes that we could do as a team is the organisation around the feeding and having a really good hydration and nutrition, because this Tour is hellish hot, and for sure my body temperature is probably cooler than it was in 2022 or any Tour before.
"We really keep focused on cooling down and I think that's a big difference, and just planning, organisation, and motivation for the next days - it's a big difference from what it was in '22."
Stage 6 may be looked back upon as the moment Pogacar established a base to win from, when the rest of the chasing pack fell away.
That meant Friday's racing was more relaxed for the 27-year-old - with Belgium’s Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) producing a magnificent sprint to keep up his winning record at the Tour de France - though he noted the team still had to manage the conditions.
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He said: "Today it was easier; it was still important to keep the temperature of the body down, and be careful for any tricky situations in the towns, and just be careful.
"We did a really good job. It was a good day. I think if you ask anyone in the bunch, [they] suffered a bit after yesterday and also me.
"We were grateful for an easier day today. It was a great day, very hot in the final, the start was nicer, now it's really boiling, and it was important to keep the temperature down as much as possible and survive the day as easy as possible, and we hope for the same tomorrow."
The 113rd edition of the Tour continues on Saturday with another chance for the sprinters to shine: the 180.4km stage 8 from Perigueux to Bergerac features just two Cat.4 climbs ahead of what is expected to be another bunch sprint royale between the peloton’s fastmen.
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