After Tadej Pogačar took complete control of the Tour de France in the first week, even some of the best riders in the world have been forced to concede already that he is simply in a league of his own, with Tobias Halland Johannessen – sixth place overall from last year's Tour – describing him as "just a freak of nature."
For Johannessen, who is ranked as the 20th best rider in the UCI rankings, sits 11th overall heading into stage 10 of the Tour, and has finished in the top six of three stages already, the Slovenian is already out of sight in the race for the yellow jersey.
Pogačar lies 2:42 ahead of Jonas Vingegaard in second place, and he retook control of yellow from Johannessen's Uno-X Mobility teammate Torstein Træen on stage 6 following a total destruction of the Col du Tourmalet. It was a big loss for the Norwegian team, with the former race leader forced to abandon due to a crash, but with Johannessen, they still have hopes in the GC and in the hunt for stage wins.
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"I feel like it was a hard day for us, of course, especially with Torstein and the crash, and we've lost him now on the bus. He's a nice guy to have in the team, but still we look back on a couple of special days," Johannessen told Cyclingnews before stage 8.
"I think probably Pogačar will carry the jersey until Paris. So there aren't many others who can enjoy the yellow jersey this Tour, so that still gives us some goosebumps thinking back on those days."
Two years ago, Johannessen described being caught and passed in the breakaway on stage 15 by Pogačar and Vingegaard as "like I don't do the same sport as them," expressing the gulf in climbing power from the top two to the rest.
In 2026, Johannessen is similarly strong in his assessment of the very top riders, admitting that as a team, they aren't really Pogačar anymore. Johannessen will start the tenth stage almost 10 minutes behind him already.
"He's just a freak of nature. He's such a good bike rider, and it's also just the way he doesn't crash, he doesn't get sick; he has the complete package," said Johannessen.
"It's motivating to see that it's possible, but I feel like we're still lagging a bit behind. So the race is not really about Pogačar for us; we have to race for the positions behind, but there are still some stage wins up for grabs, and that's what we're trying to aim for."
Uno-X have impressed throughout their first and now their second Tours, winning a stage with Jonas Abrahamsen last year, finishing in the top 10 with Johannessen, and wearing yellow with Træen, and while they will remain the attacking outfit they've come to be known as, Johannessen noted how much influence Pogačar and UAE will have on their goals.
Even without trying to race, specifically, for a GC position, chasing breakaways in the second and third week will require mercy from cycling's top team, who seem to be determined to win on almost every occasion they can with Pogačar or Isaac del Toro.
"I feel like we're a team that likes to be active, and we show that we have a really good sprinter in Wærenskjold, but I feel like you get a bit bored if it's just the sprints," he said.
"We just need to make some dynamics to the bike race, and that's where our team thrives the most, I think. I feel like normally we need to start the stage before you feel how the race will be because it's not hard to guess what Pogačar and UAE will do.
"You feel the tension in the peloton, and then you see the opportunity; you have to have that gut feeling, and it needs to be right; otherwise, you're just wasting power."
In theory, stage 10 to Le Lioran could be a day for Johannessen to chase a win from the break, but Pogačar – much as he says he isn't – will surely want to take revenge for his loss at the same location back in 2024 to Vingegaard. If allowed the freedom, Uno-X should thrive at the Tour, but everyone will be fighting against the all-consuming nature of UAE Team Emirates-XRG to do so.
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