Lance Armstrong had already criticised Tadej Pogacar after the 17th stage of the Tour de France for his aggressive racing style, and he stepped up his criticism after Pogacar’s solo victory in the 19th stage at Isola 2000. “It’s also a political event, and you shouldn’t give others a reason to hate you,” Armstrong said.
Pogacar caught the last breakaway rider, Matteo Jorgenson of Visma | Lease a Bike, with a powerful eight-kilometre solo effort in the final part of the mountain stage to Isola 2000. “We take nothing away from the exceptional athlete that he is,” Armstrong began in his THEMOVE podcast“But I scratched my head after seeing what he did.”
“We thought Matteo Jorgenson had it, but Pogacar apparently thought otherwise,” the American continued. “I’ve been in Pogacar’s position, with my number and a start and finish line. What we saw is the biggest mistake he’s made in his career. Other teams don’t like it, fans, except the Slovenian ones, prefer not to see it, and the French media aren’t very supportive either. Believe me, it’s a big, unnecessary mistake.”
“I understand the arguments that ‘it’s a race,’ but this is also a political campaign. You should not give other people a reason to start hating you, I repeat: you should not give other people a reason to hate you, or dislike you, or doubt you,” said the former Motorola and US Postal delivery driver.
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Armstrong highlights that he is a big fan of Pogacar
“I’m going to share with the whole world something I’ve never shared before,” Armstrong goes one step further. “We’re talking about the 2000 Tour de France, maybe Johan Bruyneel knows the story. I was working with Michele Ferrari. I got away from Marco Pantani and Jan Ullrich and finished four minutes ahead of them, but on the bus I saw a message from Ferrari: ‘Big mistake,’ it said. That was it,” he recounts a similar case in which the competition was dominated.
“A Tour is a marathon combined with NASCAR and a political campaign. It lasts three weeks. And that’s difficult and makes it different from other sports,” says Armstrong, who wants to clarify that he has nothing against Pogacar. “In fact, I’m a fan. But I sit in front of the TV and tell him: don’t do it, don’t do it. Precisely because I’m his fan. He can stand on the highest podium in Nice, that’s his victory. But now, it would have been better if he stayed with his teammates.”
“A Tour is a marathon, combined with NASCAR and a political campaign. It lasts three weeks. And that’s hard and that’s what makes it different from other sports,” says Armstrong, who wants to make it clear that he has nothing against Pogacar. “In fact, I’m a fan. But I sit in front of the TV: don’t do it, don’t do it. Precisely because I’m his fan. He can be on the highest gallows in Nice, that’s his victory. But now he would have been better off if he had stayed with his teammates.”
