Tadej Pogacar’s fourth stage win of the 2024 Tour de France on Friday at Isola 2000 has caused quite a stir in cycling. Lance Armstrong even criticised the upcoming Tour de France winner on his podcast The Move. The former American pro believes winning too many The stages could turn against the Slovenian later on.
“What we’ve seen here is the biggest mistake of his entire career. I can assure you,” Armstrong is very firm. “The other teams don’t like it, the fans don’t like it… Then you can say that the people of Slovenia like it, yes, but he also races against the Belgian Remco Evenepoel and the Dane Jonas Vingegaard. Two great cycling countries. He races in France, with French media. It’s a big mistake on his part.”
“Then I hear the reactions: it’s a race. Yes, that’s true, but it’s also a political campaign,” the American continues. “Don’t give people a reason to hate you. And I like to repeat it. Don’t give them a reason to hate you. And if that’s too much, then don’t give them a reason to dislike you. And even more important: don’t give them a reason to doubt you. Don’t give them the opportunity to question your greatness. And that’s what he did, that was his biggest mistake.”
Armstrong wants to add a little more to that later in the podcast. “I’m a real fan of Tadej Pogacar,” he says. “As a fan and a follower I told him: don’t do this, don’t do this. I wanted the best for him. He could have caught Jorgensen and taken a stage. I’ve experienced many situations like that. On Mont Ventoux I let Marco Pantani win the stage, but I wasn’t happy about that. He thought that was an extra blow. That didn’t sit well with him either. But Pogacar has to think about the final podium in Nice. That’s the real victory.”
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