Tadej Poga\u010dar is dominating the Tour de France so completely that he\u2019s starting to get what every great champion eventually gets: haters.<\/p>\n
The Slovenian powered to his 24th career Tour stage victory Tuesday and all but turned the battle for yellow into a race for the podium after extending his lead over Jonas Vingegaard to 3:36.<\/p>\n
After a brutal stage across the Massif Central, Poga\u010dar revealed that not everyone lining the roads was cheering him on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a great atmosphere, even if there was some booing,\u201d Poga\u010dar said after the stage. \u201cI told the guys that booing just gives us more power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar did not elaborate on where or when the booing happened, but perhaps it\u2019s no coincidence that the boos came during latest rampage on France\u2019s Bastille Day.<\/p>\n
And with all of France hoping to see teenage sensation Paul Seixas take the win, the partisan crowds may have grown frustrated as Poga\u010dar stamped his authority on the race.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time UAE Emirates-XRG was booed during this year\u2019s Tour after Tim Wellens said some fans didn\u2019t like what they saw on the Col du Tourmalet last week.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar brushed it off as part of the territory that comes with winning.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, haters are going to hate, even though in cycling it\u2019s not as bad as other sports, where there is so much more booing and going against one player or one team,\u201d Poga\u010dar said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they boo me on the road, they are actually booing the whole group because we are all passing all together on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Cycling fans are the greatest of all sports\u2019<\/h2>\n
He insisted the overwhelming majority of fans continue to cheer every rider.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn cycling, there is not so much booing. Ninety-nine percent of people are cheering for everybody,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I see the young fans, they have a jersey of their favorite rider, but they cheer for everyone. Cycling fans are the greatest of all sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar suggested that any jeers will only fuel his appetite for more.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd for all the haters who are there, they just give us more boost for our teammates. It gives us more wood on the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tour dominance can trigger negative reaction<\/h2>\n
Booing dominant Tour contenders is hardly new.<\/p>\n
Chris Froome endured some of the sport\u2019s ugliest fan behavior during his reign, including having a cup of urine thrown at him.<\/p>\n
Lance Armstrong was regularly jeered and spat upon throughout his controversial era, and Eddy Merckx was even punched by an outraged fan.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar, meanwhile, has largely avoided that kind of backlash.<\/p>\n
His attacking style, relaxed personality and easygoing demeanor have made him one of the peloton\u2019s most popular champions despite his no-gifts dominance.<\/p>\n
On the road, however, he continues to leave his rivals cursing under their breath.<\/p>\n
Despite moving closer to a record-tying fifth Tour de France title, Poga\u010dar said he has no intention of easing off the gas.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know how long it lasts,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to be grateful for this moment and enjoy the race. We are close to home and I see a lot of Slovenian flags as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Win as much as Poga\u010dar does, and eventually someone\u2019s going to start booing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_6513.jpg”] Andrew Hood Published July 14, 2026 11:14AM Tadej Poga\u010dar is dominating the Tour de France so completely that he\u2019s starting to get what every great champion eventually gets: haters. The Slovenian powered to his 24th career Tour stage victory Tuesday and all but turned the battle for yellow into a race for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2044791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2044791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044791\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2044791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2044791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2044791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}