Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is used to being waited on hand and foot, but the four-time Tour de France winner had a taste of the other side of the coin on stage 13 of the French Grand Tour.
Around 70km after the start in Dole, and 135km from the finish in Belfort, Pogačar could be seen carrying multiple water bottles up from the team car to distribute among his teammates.
This is, of course, usually the role of the domestiques, and not the superstar race leader, who is usually spared every unnecessary effort he could possibly make.
“It’s too hard, to be honest,” Pogačar said light-heartedly when the incident was raised in his yellow jersey press conference after stage 13.
“It’s not really for me, especially when the group is in one line.”
The peloton was indeed lined out at that point in the stage, another blisteringly fast one, meaning that Pogačar had to cover a fair old distance to travel from the back of the peloton to the front.
“I just stopped for a natural break. I was at the car, and I took some extra bottles for the guys that were pulling,” he explained.
“They do this all Tour for me. Every 10 minutes they go back for bottles, and today I was at the car, so I took some extra."
Pogačar is ultimately tasked with the toughest task of all – that of beating every other rider in the race and shouldering the responsibility that goes with it.
But while the contribution of his teammates has never been lost upon him, he walked a moment in their shoes.
“It’s a hard job, don’t be fooled,” he concluded.
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