Tadej Pogacar, for everyone in the Tour de France: “He is number 1”

You want revenge. After spectacularly winning two consecutive editions of Tour de France (2020 and 2021) everything seems to indicate that the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar was launched to exceed all records in ‘Big Boucle’ and there has already been talk of his name being the fifth to join the club of four riders in the world capable of winning five editions of the Tour (Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Indurain).

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Some expect the Danish Jonas Vingegaard, 2nd in 2021, took another leap in quality in his performance that will allow him to make history on the Tour last year and break the streak of the Slovenian. A year later, the two meet again on the best cycling scene, with their homework done and the question of which of the two will embrace the glory of Paris on July 23.

Both have performed well so far this season, but there is a difference between them: the crash Pogacar suffered in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as a result of which he suffered a scaphoid fracture with a double bone break, requiring a small screw to realign the bone fragments in one of his wrists. A disaster that changed his racing program before dropping to the Tour and could condition his benefits in the gala round. MD wants to clear doubts and talk Joxean Fernandez ‘Matxin’one of the people who know this shining young cycling star.

“Tadej got to the Tour de France very well after his injury, he has recovered, he hasn’t done part of the calendar that we planned from the beginning, which is the Dauphiné Critérium or the Tour of Slovenia and he went directly to the Slovenian Championships – he won with authority in the Slovenian road and time trial competition– and that’s fine”, explained the MD director of the UAE Team Emirates. For him, Pogacar is complete: “Obviously, a rider who has won two editions in the last three years and was second in another, the expectations are to go out and win. Obviously there are important rivals, but he is the number 1 in the world and that is why we are optimistic”. Matxin emphasizes the points in favor of ‘Pogi’: “He knows the race, he has ambition, quality, the team is strong and we all think to defend the his opportunities and we will go to a team that surrounds him in a professional and high position. quality method”.

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At the start gates of the Tour de France in Bilbao, ‘Maxin’ warns of the danger of the first stages – “they are nervous and they are stages to avoid falling, let the nerves pass. Passing through the middle of many towns will be an accumulated risk, but we believe that there are two stages that will always come first”–, which should not be an obstacle to being “heroes, we are convinced”.

“Wow Bilbao and Gora Euskadi”

And certainly Pogacar was one of the most famous runners yesterday at the gates of the Guggenheim Museum during the presentation of the teams, when he addressed the fans with these words: “Aupa Bilbao, Aupa Athletic and Gora Euskadi”.

With ‘Pogi’ Mikel Landa, Enric Mas, Peter Sagan, Julian Alaphilippe or Jonas Vingeggardsome of the cyclists who were most applauded by the knowledgeable Basque fans of cycling, who chanted their names and faithfully attended the event despite the light rain that fell in a Bilbao dressed in yellow gala to celebrate all that stopped at the start of the 110th. edition of the Tour de France in Bilbao tomorrow, the second time the Tour has left Spain since it did so in 1992 in San Sebastian.