Pogacar has issued a warning for the Tour and is certain to eliminate the triplet

The Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE), double winner of the Tour and the 2024 Giro, enters the 111th edition of the Tour de France as the main favorite and with sensations that allow him to ensure that he feels “as before” on the bike.

After his great success, he is seeking a double Giro-Tour that no one has achieved since 1998 with Marco Pantani as the star, but he leads the triplet by doing the Vuelta, although he dreams of “wearing the red jersey. “

“Winning the Giro d’Italia was an incredible experience that I will always remember. It meant a lot to me because it was my first time at the Giro. To win like we did is one of my biggest achievements so far. I’m happy to celebrate with the team, I was with them for three weeks and in the previous training camps,” Pogacar said on his team’s page.

After getting the pink jersey of the Giro, Pocagar took some time to rest, and from his residence in Monaco he started preparing for the Tour.

“After the Giro I rested, ate well and went back to Monaco. Soon I was quite eager to get back on the bike. In the first week I traveled for a few days to the cafeteria and went home. It was good. “Then I started to get better quickly and trained well after the Giro.”

pogacar, ensuring that “mental recovery is really important as well as physical recovery”, arrives full of excitement for the Tour that starts this Saturday in Florence, where he will try to break the tie of two victories that he holds with the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, defending champion.

“I’m really looking forward to the Tour starting, I think it will be a special start for me because I won the Giro and the Tour starts in Italy. I have taken a step forward since the Giro and my form is even better than I expected. I have done a good workout, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so good on the bike, so I can’t complain,” he said.

After his dominance in the Giro, with 6 stage victories, Pogacar can apply the same tactic in a Tour that will start with difficult stages from day one.

“In the Giro it worked well, so we’ll see. I can’t talk too much about it. The first two days were quite difficult, especially the second day on the climb to San Luca. I think the conclusions and then we can decide how to approach the next few days”.

As for his rivals on the Tour, the Slovenian believes they are all at a high level, though Jonas Vingegaardwho has not competed since his fall on April 4 in Itzulia (Tour of the Basque Country).

“Jonas is very injured, very serious, but I think he will be fine. I think he will be prepared and if he is mentally strong and has recovered properly then of course I think we should be prepared to see him at his best. And in the Dauphiné we saw that Evenepoel and Roglic were in very good form, maybe Remco was not 100%, but Primoz was close. “I think everyone is at the highest level on the Tour.”

He had no doubts Pogacar by making sure “it’s a very competitive Tour, but you don’t know what your opponents are. Our bodies are unpredictable, last year I thought I was 100% but one day was great I and one day I’m not ready.”

Regarding the route of this edition, Pogacar considering that “every stage will be important this year, so the whole team will fight for the same goal, fight for victory.”

however, Pogacar Considering that the last three stages of the Tour and the end of the time trial in Nice can have strong emotions.

“The difference is that in the last three days, they are very difficult. Obviously there will be a lot of calculation for the last three days within the balance of the favorites for the general classification, one can think of saving their legs for on the last day because they really set us up with a brutal time trial in the last stage which I think changed the race a little bit in general.

The final time trial will be a special day, as it will start in Monaco, where Pogacar resides. “It’s going to be special. This year I sometimes go for a walk in Nice and come back and you can see that they have a Tour atmosphere, even 5 months ago! “You feel lucky to be there and to finish there would be amazing.”

“It will be very hot and humid. I know the conditions of July and August and I think they are terrible. There will be fatigue and the time trial has two climbs, it will be very difficult, but then I can do it, ride my bike, go home and sleep” .

Pogacar He will be the favorite for the yellow jersey in Nice, but for now he prefers to admit his good moment and reserve the forecast from the pressure.

“Everybody thinks I’m going to win the Tour every year and I haven’t won the last two. Obviously there’s always pressure for the Tour, it’s the most important race in the world. I’m in a good moment. Of course, I also want to have fun, when I don’t have fun on the bike anymore I might retire, so I want to have as much fun as possible. “I feel good but let’s see, diamonds are made under pressure.”

“Doing the Vuelta is crazy.”

What Pogacar has ruled out is his participation in the Vuelta should he win the Tour to attempt the triplet.

“I don’t think so, no. I want to wear the red jersey one day, but I can assure you that the Giro-Tour-Vuelta triplet is not on the program this year. Winning every grand tour is an important goal for to me, but doing it “In the same year can be crazy. It is also an Olympic year and the World Championships will also be held. I think after the Tour we will see, but the main goal is the World Championship. “

However, the thorn of the 2023 World Cup with a bronze medal is influencing the mood of Pogacar, who sees himself competing for the rainbow jersey in Zurich.

“Last year I came third in the world championship and I want to try again. I really like the circuit this year, Switzerland is a beautiful country and there should be good roads and nice little climbs, it will be a tough race. “Having the rainbow jersey is a dream.”