Thomas Siniecki, Media365: published on Thursday June 27, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.
From 2020 to 2023, Tadej Pogacar never let go of the white jersey. The situation will change.
Tadej Pogacar did not lose everything last year on the Tour de France, white jersey for the best young person as second in the general classification behind Jonas Vingegaard, and this for the fourth time in a row. This season, there will certainly be a new winner, since the little Slovenian prodigy is no longer eligible, now aged 25. The two favorites seem obvious: Carlos Rodriguez (23 years old), fifth in 2023 and who would therefore be the winner if the hierarchy were to repeat itself. Ahead of Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal, it is he who will be the leader of the INEOS team. As for the second thief, his name is Remco Evenepoel.
Our nugget Martinez will have a lot to do
We don’t really know what to expect from the little Belgian prodigy, who could even be a formidable competitor for Tadej Pogacar if he displays his level of the 2022 Vuelta, which he won for his first participation (and his first completed Grand Tour) after having already won the title of world champion. But since then, he has abandoned the Giro and then finished only twelfth in the 2023 Tour of Spain, while still being very fluctuating at the start of 2024, mainly due to his big fall in the Tour of the Basque Country in April ( double fracture of the clavicle and scapula).
Could a third thief finally pocket the stake? On the French side, we certainly hope that our nugget Lenny Martinez (Groupama – FDJ) pulls out all the stops, but he will have his work cut out for him against Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates), third then fourth in the last two Vueltas and who is shaping up to be Tadej Pogacar’s number 1 teammate. Or Matteo Jorgenson who will be ready to compensate for any failure of Vingegaard within the Visma team.
