Mathieu Warnier, Media365: published on Saturday June 29, 2024 at 8:20 p.m.
If he did not take power at the conclusion of the first stage this Saturday, Tadej Pogacar has everything he needs to seize the yellow jersey and claim the first Giro-Tour double since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.
Tadej Pogacar is a man of challenges. While he could win all the Monuments at least once and has already stated that he wants to win all the one-week stage races on the calendar before the end of his career, the leader of the UAE Team Emirates team wants to put an end to a wait of 26 years. Since 1998 and Marco Pantani, no rider has managed to win the Giro and the Tour de France in the same year. Insolently easy on the Italian roads last May, winning the trifle of six stages to win with almost ten minutes ahead of his first pursuer Daniel Felipe Martinez, the native of Komenda seems to have all the cards in hand to achieve a third Tour de France on July 21 in Nice. The first is a hand-sewn calendar to enable him to tackle the first two Grand Tours of the season in the best conditions. In fact, before the start of the Giro, the Slovenian only had ten days of racing.
Pogacar, confident and well surrounded
After the Tour of Italy, the emphasis was placed on recovery and preparation for the Grande Boucle, hence its absence from the events usually rated for gaining strength such as the Critérium du Dauphiné or the Tour de Suisse. The only black spot will remain contamination by the coronavirus ten days before the start of the Tour de France. However, this will not erase a more than successful start to the season with victory in the Strade Bianche, the Tour of Catalonia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in addition to a third place in Milan-Sanremo. This has allowed the leader of the UAE Team Emirates to build unfailing confidence, beyond a form that he is in better than ever. Added to this is a collective entirely devoted to the cause of its leader and, above all, completely renewed compared to that engaged in the Giro. Dominators on the Tour de Suisse, Adam Yates and João Almeida will be alongside Juan Ayuso to be Tadej Pogacar’s three main lieutenants when the serious things begin.
Pogacar’s rivals not necessarily at their best
They are added to the “still rolling” that are Tim Wellens or Nils Politt, when Pavel Sivakov will be able to set the pace when the road starts to rise. It should therefore not be surprising if Tadej Pogacar will still have two or three teammates when his rivals are alone on the slope. Because, if the leader of the UAE Team Emirates team can aim for the double this year, it is because his opponents will not necessarily be at their best. While Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel did not show their best face on the Critérium du Dauphiné with the promise of being 100% on the Tour de France and a dedicated team, Jonas Vingegaard is in total uncertainty. While he returned to competition this Saturday after three months of absence due to the heavy fall suffered on the Tour of the Basque Country, the Dane saw his close guard lose strength with the withdrawals of Steven Kruijswijk, Dylan van Baarle and, at the very last moment, Sepp Kuss. Nevertheless, Matteo Jorgenson, winner of Paris-Nice and second in the Dauphiné this year, should not be ruled out. If a radiant Tour de France is announced for Tadej Pogacar, nothing is decided in advance and the slightest error could cost dearly.
