There were all kinds of memorable moments at the Tour de France Femmes. Kasia Niewiadoma’s Mont Ventoux win. Demi Vollering’s amazing wins. Canadians Isabella Holmgren and Sarah Van Dam riding like absolute bosses. (Along with Kiara Lylyk, Alison Jackson and Nadia Gontova putting in some fantastic performances.) It was an incredible nine days of racing at the TdFF.
But there was also one little moment with a dude that made its way around the Internet, too.
It turns out even getting Tadej Pogačar to make a silly video requires a little luck, some persistence and a well-timed appearance at a camper.
A cute little Sporza video featuring Pogačar supporting his partner Urška Žigart and a rather unusual “HAB” shirt exploded online. The video has more than two million views and 147,000 likes.
Merckpoel on the video
But according to Sporza journalist and TV personality Linde Merckpoel, the idea was far from a sure thing. (Btw, Merckpoel has to be a fantastic portmanteau of a name for cycling, eh?)
The concept had been floating around for some time. When Pogačar was confirmed to be around the Tour de France Femmes, the team contacted the press officer for AG Insurance–Soudal, Žigart’s team.
Would it work?
Things moved quickly. The night before the final stage, she said she wasn’t sure if the five-time men’s Tour de France winner would take part. But then, things were suddenly on track.
Merckpoel and her colleagues headed to the course and eventually tracked down the area where Pogačar and Žigart’s family were gathered.
Pogi wasn’t there yet. He eventually rolled in after getting some training done, sporting a goofy promo hat and his very identifiable rainbow Colnago.
☝️You never know who you might run into the Tour route. In #Nice, Linde bumped into a truly huge fan of #UrškaŽigart
🇫🇷 Tour de France Femmes • Stage 9️⃣
🗓️ Sun./Aug. 9th@LeTourFemmes #TDFF2026 #letourfemmes #flaming #cycling #TadejPogačar #Pogačar #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/7hiAsTRjwU
— Kingdom of Cycling (@Cycling_Kingdom) August 9, 2026
Merckpoel eventually approached him and explained the idea. Pogačar immediately understood what they were trying to do.
“I had the perfect opponent,” Merckpoel said.
Then came the shirt
The “HAB” (Husbands and Boyfriends) design was intended to poke fun at Pogačar’s supporting role while Žigart raced. Instead of shying away from the joke, Pogačar definitely was onboard. The Slovenian pulled the shirt on and took a selfie.
He even ended up wearing it throughout the stage, as we can see in videos from the side of the road, when he yells “Allez Urška!” as she passes by..
“It’s such a positive video,” she said, calling the moment one of the highlights of her career.
But apart from being playful, it also gave Pogi the chance to show just how important his partner is to his success. He’s mentioned several times how she is the glue behind his job, despite her also being a pro cyclist. Žigart had a horrible crash at the Tour de Suisse and it was great to see her racing again at the Tour de France Femmes. Despite a gap in training and racing, she rode well as the race went on, finishing 19th on the final stage on her “home roads” on the tough Nice circuit.