Tadej Pogačar and Isaac Del Toro traded their usual positions at the front of cycling’s hardest stage races for a quieter role on the roadside: supporting their partners, Urška Žigart and Luciana Hinojosa, during the Tour de France Femmes. While the world tour peloton raced through demanding terrain, the men’s grand tour contenders stepped back from the spotlight, embodying a French phrase echoing across the race tents: “C’est elle la star.”
Supporting Roles on the Women’s WorldTour
The presence of reigning men’s cycling heavyweights along the route of the women’s showcase event brought a distinct dynamic to the race atmosphere. Rather than chasing yellow jerseys or managing team radios, riders like UAE Team Emirates star Tadej Pogačar shifted entirely into support mode. His partner, Slovenian rider Urška Žigart, competes at the highest level of the sport, riding domestically and internationally while carving out her own palmarès.
Alongside Pogačar, young Mexican climber Isaac Del Toro was spotted cheering on his partner, Luciana Hinojosa. For fans lining the climbs and sprint zones, seeing Grand Tour winners and rising professionals acting as roadside supporters underscored the close-knit nature of the professional cycling community during the peak of the summer calendar.
Navigating the Tour de France Femmes Schedule
The scheduling of the modern women’s Tour de France places it immediately after or close to the climax of the men’s international calendar, allowing select professionals time to travel, decompress, and witness the racing firsthand. Unlike standard team staff or coaches, these high-profile partners operated largely behind the scenes—handling logistics, offering quiet encouragement, and watching from the anonymous stretches of tarmac rather than the VIP team cars.
For Žigart, navigating the intense physical demands of the women’s grand tour requires meticulous preparation, tactical awareness, and resilience across unpredictable terrain. Having a partner who understands the exact physical toll of a three-week block or a grueling one-day classic provides an invaluable layer of shared experience within the paddock.
Shifting the Lens to Women’s Cycling
The visibility brought by high-profile spectators highlights a broader shift within professional cycling: treating the women’s calendar as a premier sporting spectacle in its own right. Media coverage and fan engagement around the women’s peloton have surged, with broadcast viewership expanding globally. When athletes of Pogačar’s stature step to the side to let their partners take center stage, it reinforces a culture where the achievements of the women’s peloton stand firmly on their own merits.
As the racing season continues toward its autumn classics and late-year championships, both the men’s and women’s pelotons face demanding schedules. For now, the brief intersection of the sport’s biggest names on the roadside offered a candid look at the mutual support sustaining riders through cycling’s most demanding campaigns.
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