Just days after Jonas Vingegaard said that Tadej Pogachar has no weaknesses, Pogachar himself, a two-time Tour de France champion, revealed how his rivals hurt him.

Pogachar, who took the yellow jersey for the second time this year and also won two monuments, was a guest on Geraint Thomas' podcast this week and exuded an aura of invincibility.

"They shouldn't be afraid of me. They shouldn't be afraid of me, because I can play really fast.

He spoke directly to one of his Grand Tour rivals, explaining specifically how he would be beaten.

"I have good power on the climbs that aren't so long, but sometimes I'm not as good on the longer climbs, and with the altitude, I think that's already obvious."

Pogachar fell a bit behind Primoz Roglic at the end of his 2020 Tour de France debut on the Col de la Rose at 2,400m elevation.

This year, the 22-year-old dominated his rivals on the first mountain stage and took two more wins in the tight final week.

Pogachar's UAE Emirates team is stronger than in 2020 and reinforced for 2022, but he still suggested he could be isolated and said Thomas' Ineos Grenadiers team could use strength in numbers against him.

"Certainly, if I have a team that's not very strong, that's going to attack us long distance, that's going to make it more difficult for us.

"Even if I try to go aggressive from a long way with multiple riders, there are so many leaders in Ineos that we can try different things in different ways. I think there are a lot of different things that can be done by me, or by anyone else. It's not that complicated."

Thomas himself admits that the rise of Pogachal requires a rethink for him and the Ineos Grenadiers.

"When you see a player that strong, a lot of teams will think, 'How can we beat this player? For myself and my team, we have to stay positive and believe that we can still win," Thomas said. I have to stay positive for myself and the team and believe that we can still win," Thomas said.

"It's certainly a challenge for the other players. For us it is a challenge. It doesn't make sense to just run at a fast tempo up front like we did when I was on the team.