TOUR DE FRANCE | 27/06/2024 | 19:34
by Francesca Monzone
In Florence the time has also come for Tadej Pogacarthe Slovenian champion who won the Tour de France twice, after two years in which he had to surrender to Vingegaard, is now ready to take his revenge.
Pogacar spoke briefly about the time spent after the Giro d’Italia, the short holiday with his girlfriend Urska and the death of his grandfather. His health also caused some concern, with a Covid that fortunately did not create too many problems. The Slovenian also spoke about the first stages of this Grande Boucle, which for the first time in its history will start from Italy.
The UAE Emirates champion thinks the Tour route was tough from the start but he is certain that for the general classification we will have to wait for the fourth stage, when the race returns to France. «I don’t think the first stage is hard enough to make much difference – the Slovenian said in the conference -. The first stage isn’t really difficult and I don’t think it can cause any particular gaps, while it will be the fourth that will make the real difference. I think the real Tour will start that day.”
In Florence the heat was felt and everyone knows that the Slovenian doesn’t like running in high temperatures. «Year after year I adapt more and more to the heat, my performance is better than in extreme cold. I’m ready for the summer.” Vingegaard’s participation was in doubt until the end and only a few days ago, Visma – Lease a Bike confirmed his participation. Pogacar is happy to be able to compete with him, because it means that he has recovered well from the accident in the Basque Country. «It’s nice to see Vingegaard at the start and I respect him a lot as a rival. Together we have already written a great history of cycling and now we are ready for this new history”.
Tadej said he had Covid ten days ago, but had no problems recovering and overcame it with very few symptoms. “Four days after returning from my grandfather’s funeral I got sick. It was Covid and luckily I recovered quickly. Covid no longer affects our body so seriously especially if you have already had it. I have already contracted it twice and for this reason I recovered quickly.”
The Slovenian stopped only one day and then gradually resumed training in view of the Tour. «Only for one day did I completely stop with the bikethen I just did a few sessions on the rollers. As soon as I felt good again, I went back out on the road again. It all went pretty quickly.”
Pogacar is doing well and in the first few days, he will probably limit himself to controlling the race, while with the fourth day and the passage on the Galibier, he could already decide to attack and thus test his opponents.
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