{"id":2065418,"date":"2026-07-28T09:44:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T06:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2065418"},"modified":"2026-07-28T09:44:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T06:44:23","slug":"the-best-quotes-from-the-2026-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2065418","title":{"rendered":"The Best Quotes from the 2026 Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"
Well, that\u2019s all they rode. The 2026 Tour de France is over.<\/p>\n
The 158 finishers were not just strong and entertaining on the bike, they had some killer things to say and great quips off it too.<\/p>\n
Here are the funniest, most compelling and downright strangest quotes from this year\u2019s edition of cycling\u2019s most prestigious race.<\/p>\n
Master and apprentice crack a joke<\/h2>\nPoga\u010dar paced Isaac Del Toro to pressure Paul Seixas and helpedto secure the white jersey for the Mexican. (Photo by Luc Claessen\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cActually, me and Isaac are big rivals. We\u2019re just playing that we\u2019re friends in front of the camera.\u201d<\/em> Tadej Poga\u010dar is cracking jokes in his post-Tour press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something you wouldn\u2019t even write in a story book.\u201d<\/em> The Slovenian on winning his record-equalling fifth Tour title.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you could have seen through my glasses during the stage, you would have seen I was crying and speechless.\u201d<\/em> Isaac Del Toro, the first Mexican to finish on the Tour\u2019s final podium, was emotional as Poga\u010dar played super-domestique on stage 20 (above) and helped him to third place.<\/p>\n
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Sepp Kuss, adrenaline junkie<\/h2>\nSepp Kuss descending during his break on stage 20 of the 2026 Tour de France, right before his dramatic crashes. (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/span>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cIt was a bit more of a corner than I expected. We\u2019ll see if my wife lets me race my bike anymore \u2013 she always tells me not to take any risks on the downhills. But you\u2019ve got to have a bit of adrenaline every once in a while.\u201d<\/em> Sepp Kuss after his second crash into roadside netting, nearly going over the edge of the road, while leading with 5km to go of stage 20.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they were so drunk that it was more like slapping my backside than pushing me, so it wasn\u2019t exactly pleasant.<\/i>\u201d French national champion Romain Gregoire tells L\u2019Equipe he was not so impressed by the Alpe d\u2019Huez fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re insane, mate.\u201d<\/em> Paul Seixas to Tadej Poga\u010dar after his win on Alpe d\u2019Huez on stage 19.<\/p>\n
Records, \u2018records\u2019 and handling the pressure<\/h2>\nPoga\u010dar on the way to beating a record on Alpe d\u2019Huez. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cI actually don\u2019t know what was Pantani\u2019s time was, to be honest.\u201d<\/em> A new record up Alpe d\u2019Huez from Tadej Poga\u010dar, even if he is not as bothered about it as most of the cycling world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are always expectations, and when I don\u2019t deliver they\u2019re not going to <\/em>shoot me or anything, but you just try to deliver.\u201d<\/em> There is a lot of pressure in the Tour, but it\u2019s not quite life and death, as a relieved Jasper Philipsen explained after winning stage 17.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good kid.\u201d<\/em> Tadej Poga\u010dar after stage 16 about poor TT crash victim Florian Lipowitz\u2026 who is only two years younger than him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHas anyone ever been in the breakaway three days in a row while being in the top ten overall? I don\u2019t think so. Tadej can break loads of records, but so can I.\u201d<\/em> Tom Pidcock after going up the road on stage 15\u2026 five days before Richard Carapaz made it into three back-to-back breakaways too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the team has made it quite obvious they care more that Mads wins the green than I win a stage. And you know, at the end of the day, they write my paycheck, so I have to do what I\u2019m told.\u201d<\/em> Lidl-Trek\u2019s Quinn Simmons after his stirring breakaway on stage 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had no Plan B.\u201d<\/em> A dejected Matteo Jorgenson sums it up after Vingegaard\u2019s crash on the road to Plateau de Solaison.<\/p>\n
Jet ski for a Tour stage win, fair deal<\/h2>\nSprinting all the way to a new jet ski. (Photo: JASPER JACOBS \/ BELGA MAG \/ Belga via AFP))<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cHe sticks out his hand. I was kind of like, \u2018I don\u2019t know if this is the place for that!\u2019 I stuck my hand out at the last minute and we pulled it off.\u201d<\/em> Quinn Simmons\u2019 dad Scott explains to Velo <\/em>how he and his son went viral with a feelgood high five on stage 12 as the US champion accelerated up a rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I stopped the biathlon.\u201d<\/em> Sport switcher Florian Lipowitz after missing the target when chucking his bidon at a fan\u2019s painted bullseye sign.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a sad boy on the bus this morning. We promised him a jet ski if he won. Now Thor [Hushovd, general manager] has to sort out the jet ski.\u201d<\/em> Soren W\u00e6renskjold goes from crash victim in last place on day 10 to winning stage 11, helped by a special motivation, as teammate Tobias Halland Johannessen tells TV 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo all the guys that were booing, they give us more power \u2026 they put wood on the fire.\u201d<\/em> Tadej Poga\u010dar has an answer for the haters after his stage 10 win at Le Lioran.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Tour is an adventure and we have made even more of it. We enjoyed a night under the starry sky. The hotel was certainly not luxurious, but sleeping outside was a bit better. There were fewer insects and mosquitoes there than in our rooms.\u201d<\/em> Tobias Halland Johanessen (again!) was not a fan of his rest day hotel, as Sporza found out.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s in his nature (break)<\/h2>\n
\u201cYou might sit on it and go a little bit in your chamois, but I\u2019d much prefer that than on a little kid on the side of the road!\u201d<\/em> In his last Tour, Luke Durbridge (Jayco Alula) goes a little TMI to Velo\u00a0<\/em>about respecting the public and stopping a nature break midstream.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople don\u2019t realize how much the level has risen. My generation saw the gap widen. And the new generation is coming, doing 7 watts per kg for 20 minutes. Before, if you did 6 watts per kg, you were good. Now you\u2019re a teammate.\u201d<\/em> 2017 Tour King of the Mountains Warren Barguil on how fast things the sport has evolved to L\u2019Equipe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had [the] power to change all, I would change the whole calendar. I would not race in July and in August in the hot place. That\u2019s something that we need to think through.\u201d<\/em> Tadej Poga\u010dar\u2019s climate change solutions, speaking after a stage 9 shortened by 30 kilometers due to extreme heat.<\/p>\n
Remco\u2019s Red Bull red mist<\/h2>\nCo-leaders Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz: it wasn\u2019t all harmony. <\/span> (Photo: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cYes, I was angry, and rightly so. In the Tour of Catalonia, I rode at the front for him for 30 kilometers. I asked to do one kilometer of work at the front, and that wasn\u2019t possible.\u201d <\/em>How\u2019s that Red Bull dual leadership tactic going? Oh. Remco Eveneoel after stage 6 about Florian Lipowitz.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll good, you speak and you forget.\u201d<\/em> Evenepoel before stage 7, videoed on the team bus with Florian Lipwoitz in a totally not stage-managed PR stunt. What a difference a day makes. Everything was apparently rosy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to bite the bullet, but sometimes the bullet bites back and you chip your tooth.\u201d<\/em> Here\u2019s why Sepp Kuss\u2019 mega-watt smile was dented on stage 6.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar is Mexican<\/h2>\nThe bromance of the Tour: Del Toro and Poga\u010dar.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve done such a hard race in such heat before; it was ridiculous \u2026 I think we went through about 10,000 bidons today as a peloton.\u201d<\/em> Tom Pidcock after the 100-degree conditions on stage 3 to Les Angles.<\/p>\n
\u201cPogi, hermano, ya eres mexicano! \u2013 (Pogi, brother, you are Mexican)!\u201d<\/em> Mexican fans chanting to wingman Poga\u010dar after Isaac del Toro\u2019s stage 2 win in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know where you want to go. You want to hear me say I want to be on the podium and hear Florian say he wants to be on the podium. Of course, we want to be on the podium, but whether it\u2019s him or myself, if we do it in a good way without this negative energy, it\u2019s good for both of us and for the team.\u201d<\/em> Remco Evenepoel pulls no punches in his pre-race press conference about Red Bull\u2019s dual leadership strategy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8D_0340-scaled-e1784643745339.jpg”] Andy McGrath Updated July 28, 2026 04:27AM Well, that\u2019s all they rode. The 2026 Tour de France is over. The 158 finishers were not just strong and entertaining on the bike, they had some killer things to say and great quips off it too. Here are the funniest, most compelling and downright […]<\/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-2065418","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\/2065418","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=2065418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2065418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2065418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2065418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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