He Former rider Miguel Indurain, five-time winner of the Tour de Franceconsiders Tadej Pogacar as the main favorite to win the next edition of the French round “by strength, by team and by motivation”.
“He comes out as a favorite, although last year (Jonas) Vingegaard also came out as a favorite because he won last year and his season in Itzulia was cut short because of a fall,” recalled the Navarrese in an appearance before the media during one of the tributes to the mythical Jesús Loroño celebrated this weekend in Bilbao.
This Friday, Indurain will participate in a colloquium with Abraham Olano, Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, Luis Zubero or Luis Otaño to run the figure of Loroñor, legendary Biscayan runner, winner of the Vuelta a España in 1957 and the Mountain Tour de France in 1953.
For Indurain, as the winner of the last edition of the Tour, as in the case of the Slovenian, “puts you as a favorite for the next one”, although he clarified that this condition “must be shown every day” and in a season that “there is “a lot of tension” in races and falls or injuries can occur.
About young Spanish cyclists
“He is strong, he has a good team, he has morale and he is still young, but every year the races are completely different,” said the cycling legend, who greatly appreciates the presence in the peloton of young Spanish riders like Juan Ayuso, Carlos Rodríguez or Pablo Torres.
“There are kids who hit hard and don’t even have to run for national teams, they are not afraid to do it abroad. What happens is that there are good rivals and there are many winners. Nowadays the important thing is to win and if you don’t win, If your work is good, maybe it won’t be given the importance it was given before,” he reflected.
“What’s missing is winning and that’s difficult. In all sports, winning is very difficult and in cycling too. There’s a lot of rivalry. There’s a lot of riders trying to win races, but everyone’s controlled. There’s a lot of information and there’s no freedom that existed before to escape but it is what it is and you have to adapt,” added Indurain.
He also pointed out that, although he personally likes “longer stages and mythical passes”, he tries to follow, especially through the media, the “great tests” of cycling which are “much more explosive” than the ones he ran in the late 80s and early 90s of the last century.
“I liked the three weeks and the long stage. Now there are other spectacles, shorter stages and very difficult climbs. Everything changes and changes. In Loroño’s time it was one cycle, in mine it was another and now is another. And in the future Change too. You have to adapt to what’s there all the time,” Indurain concluded.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
