Tadej Pogacar will be 'force to be reckoned with' at 2023 Tour de France - Bradley Wiggins

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) will already be thinking about the 2023 Tour de France after seeing his three-peat dream snuffed out by Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), according to Bradley Wiggins. Pogacar held the yellow jersey until Stage 11, where he was bludgeoned by a sensational double attack from Jumbo duo Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic.

With both looking menacing in the GC battle, Pogacar decided to chase moves from both riders down – a decision that ultimately left him unable to respond when Vingegaard ripped away on the final climb. Ad/> Undeterred, the Slovenian repeatedly went on the attack in a bid to wrestle back the leader’s jersey, most notably on the final day in the Pyrenees when an extraordinary passage of events led to Vingegaard slowing down to allow Pogacar to catch up after a crash.

Tour de FranceVingegaard crowned as Philipsen crushes rivals on Champs-Elysees2 HOURS AGO Pogacar had forced a mistake from his rival as Vingegaard swerved wildly out of a corner on Stage 18 – only avoiding a nasty crash by unclipping his left shoe and veering dangerously across the road. But the Dane latched back onto Pogacar, who then overcooked a corner and slid out on the gravel on the outside of the road.

Then, in a remarkable twist, Vingegaard decided to coast down the mountain and wait for the man whose aggressive riding had almost unseated him just moments earlier, with the pair sharing an iconic handshake. Despite finishing second in the general classification, Pogacar has cut a jovial figure before, during and after stages – even finding time to launch two cheeky attacks on Sunday’s procession into Paris.

And Wiggins believes that his class in defeat is a promising sign as he targets vengeance next year. “That