“What I take from all of this, Spencer, isn’t the numbers. It’s what I saw and especially what Pogacar said. He said: ‘I’m better than last year.’ That’s what sticks with me. And I think he is better. We’ve said it several times, but I really believe he’s better than last year. So everyone will have to raise their level for the Tour,” said the former Belgian sports director.
Are Pogacar’s watts really superior?
Pogacar’s remarks have set off alarm bells among his rivals. The Slovenian already delivered a historic 2024, winning the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the World Championships, but according to Bruyneel he may have taken another step forward.
The definitive display came on the final stage of the Tour de Suisse. Pogacar attacked more than eight kilometers from the line on a climb averaging close to 8.5% and dropped everyone. Bruyneel highlighted the figures from that ascent.
“I saw some data. It wasn’t an extremely steep climb, but he had a VAM of 1,940 meters per hour. That’s insane. I also read some calculations that put it at close to seven watts per kilo for 27 minutes,” he explained.
Spencer Martin went even further, mentioning estimates that put the world champion at around 7.2W/Kg on the climb to Villars-sur-OIlon. Though both acknowledged the figures are approximate, they agreed the performance was extraordinary.
However, Martin raised an intriguing question. Is he really better than the Pogacar of a year ago? The American analyst recalled some of the Slovenian’s rides at the Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 that he rates among the most impressive ever.
“Yes, he seems better than last year, but is he really? Because last year, at the Dauphiné, he delivered one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever seen. I still don’t know if he’s truly better than that,” Martin commented.
Bruyneel replied that, while exact comparisons are hard, what impresses him most is the gap that still exists to the rest of the field.
“Last year we knew he was incredible because he did those rides against Jonas Vingegaard. Now we don’t know because they’re not facing each other directly. But you see someone like Richard Carapaz try to follow and lose two minutes in just twenty-two minutes of climbing. That’s staggering. I think he’s really in a great place,” he noted.
The sense of superiority is such that both believe the Tour de France once again hinges almost entirely on Vingegaard. For Bruyneel, no other rider seems in position to mount a serious challenge to the Slovenian.
Pogacar dominated the 2026 Tour de Suisse
“We keep saying it over and over, but it bears repeating. Only Jonas Vingegaard can get close to Pogacar and maybe beat him if something happens. That’s the scenario we’re going to see again,” he said.
Moreover, the Belgian believes UAE arrive at the Tour with an even stronger unit than in previous seasons.
“With this team he has now and all those powerful riders around him, some who were injured are back and stronger. The team is in a very good place,” he explained.
Martin also underlined Pogacar’s versatility across the week. He not only won the queen stage, but also took the time trial by just 31 hundredths of a second over Mathieu van der Poel. A result that shows he remains one of the world’s most complete specialists.
“Watching Pogacar win that time trial is yet another confirmation of just how good he is,” Bruyneel said during the analysis.
For the former US Postal director, the Slovenian has virtually no weaknesses at the moment. Even in a discipline where riders like Remco Evenepoel should make the difference, he believes the gains would be minimal.
“Pogacar is always going to be ten or fifteen seconds from anyone in a time trial, unless it’s a completely flat chrono for pure specialists. He doesn’t need to worry about time trials in stage races,” he explained.
Tadej Pogacar and Marlen Reusser at the 2026 Tour de Suisse
Not even a great Lenny Martinez could match Pogacar in Switzerland
Another performance that impressed the analysts was how he neutralized Lenny Martinez on the final stage. The Frenchman looked set for a prestige win after making the break, but Pogacar reeled him in and rode straight past as if they were in different races.
“He simply mowed him down and went by as if he wasn’t there”, Martin remarked.
The episode’s overall takeaway was clear. Beyond numbers, time gaps, or victories, the visual impression Pogacar is leaving is devastating. It looks as if he’s racing with a fluidity no one else can match.
Martin admitted it’s still hard to compare this version with last year’s, but conceded the level remains frightening. Bruyneel, for his part, had no doubts.
“Even if he’s not better than last year, he was so far ahead of everyone else that they still have a huge problem. Even being the same 2024 Pogacar, the others are in trouble,” he concluded.
With the Tour de France just around the corner, the message from The Move is unequivocal: Pogacar seems to have reached another level. If he truly is better than the rider who won the Giro, Tour, and Worlds in the same season, the rest of the peloton will need more than a simple uptick in form to stop him pulling on yellow again in Paris.