Former doping offender Lance Armstrong criticizes Tour de France dominator Tadej Pogacar for his "unnecessary" attacks and gives the Slovenian some advice.
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- Tadej Pogacar has dominated the competition at this year's Tour de France at will so far and is on the verge of overall victory.
- Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of all seven of his Tour victories due to proven doping, now criticizes the Slovenian in his podcast.
- The US American says: "As a rider, you have to remember that the Tour is not just a sporting competition. It's also a political event."
After the Giro d'Italia, Tadej Pogacar is well on his way to taking overall victory at the Tour de France. After 18 of 21 stages, the Slovenian is leading the overall classification with a lead of over 3 minutes on the rest of the competition.
Despite his comfortable starting position, Pogacar flexes his muscles on Wednesday's 17th stage and tests rival Jonas Vingegaard again with his attack. Not all observers liked that. "It was really unnecessary to attack like that," said Lance Armstrong in his cycling podcast "The move" after the race.
"Sometimes you have to pay attention to perception"
If Pogacar had already triggered speculation with his extraordinary performance, such an appearance "certainly won't help". Armstrong explains: "It's not necessary. Besides, it doesn't make you any friends - not in the peloton and not in the media either."
The US American, who was stripped of all seven of his Tour victories due to doping, therefore advises Pogacar to show more restraint from now on. "Sometimes you have to pay attention to perception, to the image people have of you. As a rider, you have to remember that the Tour is not just a sporting competition. It's also a political event," says the 52-year-old.
For Armstrong, it is clear that the battle for the yellow jersey has already been decided. "Pogacar just has to stay on his bike for the remaining stages. He will win the Tour anyway."
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