Tadej Pogačar he is passing the period that separates him from Giro d’Italia 2024won, al Tour de France 2024, which begins on Saturday 29 June, enjoying a bit of rest, before resuming preparation. The Slovenian has lived a season bordering on perfection so far and is firmly aiming for the historic Giro-Tour double, even if there will be no shortage of opponents in the French race. Unlike Pogačar, however, the other stars expected in the fight for the Yellow Jersey have had a very difficult spring: both Remco Evenepoel That Primož Roglič and especially, Jonas Vingegaard suffered serious injuries in the now famous fall that occurred during the Tour of the Basque Country 2024.
The star of UAE Team Emirates but he thinks that the aforementioned rivals will be ready for the Tour: “Evenepoel and Roglič will fly – Pogacar’s words in the podcast Watts Occurringin which he conversed with Geraint Thomas, recently his rival in the Giro, and Luke Rowe – Both of them will be very motivated and I think they will be 100 percent prepared for the Tour de France. Vingegaard? He thought he would be at the start. He has returned to training after being discharged from hospital and if he starts to feel comfortable on the bike again he will also be able to find good form. He will have to find his ideal weight again, but I don’t think this is a problem.”
Pogačar looks in particular to Evenepoel, at least for the start of the highly anticipated French race: “It will be nice to see him at the Tour – the Slovenian’s thoughts – I think he will be someone who will tend to move especially in the first stages, while Roglič will observe at the beginning, but then it will go very strong in the last few days.”
The Slovenian champion also spoke about his teammates, chosen for the most important event of the year: “Adam Yates will be my lieutenant, while Juan Ayuso And João Almeida they will be luxury supports in the mountain stages. Also Marc Soler And Pavel Sivakov they are great climbers, but they can also do a lot on the plains. Plus, they will be there Tim Wellens And Nils Politttwo very strong men for the plains.”
From a tactical point of view, Pogačar did not reveal much about possible strategies: “The start of the Tour is difficult, but for now I haven’t thought about it much. In 2023 we were very aggressive in the Bilbao stage and perhaps we paid for it a little. Even at that moment the form was good. We will have to think carefully about what we want to do. The key stages? The first will be 210 kilometers, with four climbs and already on the second day we will have the Saint Luke. Then, there will be the Col du Galibier already at the fourth stage. Plus, the last three stages will also be very tough.”
