Jul 10, 2023 at 6:01 PMUpdate: 21 minutes ago
Tadej Pogacar is full of confidence after the first week of the Tour de France. The two-time winner is in excellent shape despite poor preparation and can therefore fully enjoy his battle with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.
After his stage victory on the Puy de Dôme, Pogacar has a warning for the competition that has started to count. The 24-year-old Slovenian reached an impressive average speed of 18.2 kilometers per hour in the last 5 kilometers of the mythical volcano on Sunday, while the road sloped an average of 11 percent.
“It was a very good performance,” said Pogacar at a digital press conference on Monday on the first day of rest. “But I can do even better.”
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The UAE Team Emirates captain smiles as he says the words. Just as he often seems to be more relaxed this Tour de France than during his first three participations in the largest cycling race in the world. “I’m really enjoying this Tour for now. The results are good, my team is great and I have the momentum. I feel every day getting better.”
Pogacar started his fourth Tour with doubts, as he had to recover from three fractures in his wrist in May and June. In the fifth stage, that lack of preparation seemed to break him up, because he lost more than a minute to Vingegaard in the Pyrenees. But the all-rounder recovered nicely and was stronger than his big competitor in the last two mountain stages.
“I’m not surprised by my good performance in the first week, because I know myself. And I knew I was good when the Tour started,” said Pogacar. “My loss of time in the first stage is actually the only surprise for me so far. I hope that will not happen again.”
Pogacar enjoys rivalry with Vingegaard
In the general classification, Pogacar is seventeen seconds behind the yellow jersey wearer Vingegaard. The Slovenian and the Dane made it a great battle in the first nine stages, much to the delight of Pogacar.
“I enjoy my rivalry with Jonas,” he says. “Last year we already competed against each other and that was one of the best Tours ever. A lot has happened this year, we take turns detonating a bomb. Every time man against man, I think that’s great.”
Pogacar is not afraid that he will get into trouble in the tough last week because he was not able to train ideally for the Tour. “I’m not worried about that at all. I rather think that I will be a bit better in the final week than now. I rely on my basic condition. I didn’t ride very well this spring for nothing.”
In last year’s Tour, Pogacar lost the battle with Vingegaard in the second week, when he gave up almost three minutes on the Dane in a stage that finished on the Col du Granon. Jumbo-Visma then cracked the all-rounder with strong team play. The Dutch team of Vingegaard hopes for that scenario again this round, possibly in one of the tough Alpine stages.
“Jumbo-Visma will undoubtedly do everything they can to crack me in one stage again,” says Pogacar. “We’ll see if that works out. I’m trying to be ready for all their tactical plans.”
Pogacar over val Zigart
Tadej Pogacar said last week after his loss of time in the Pyrenees that he was especially worried about the fall of his girlfriend Urska Zigart. The Team Jayco AlUla rider suffered a concussion at the Giro Donne.
“Urska is now doing better,” said Pogacar on Monday. “She still has to recover, but has already been on the bike today. Her fall did have an impact on me. When we went 90 kilometers per hour in a descent yesterday, I thought: this can also end very badly. It’s our job and we try to be respectful in the peloton, but sometimes it’s chaotic and you think: it’s not worth it.”
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2023-07-10 16:01:57
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