By Julien Pretot
BILBAO, Spain (Reuters) – It is fair to assume that if someone is going to beat defending champion Jonas Vingegaard at this year’s Tour de France they will need to be at their best, yet Tadej Pogacar believes he has a shot at the title despite a far-from-ideal preparation.
The Slovenian, who last year cracked under pressure from Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team in the ‘stage of the century’ to the Col du Granon and had to settle for second overall after triumphing in 2020 and 2021, broke his wrist in multiple places in April.
The recovery time hampered his preparation for the Tour and he only returned to competitive racing in his national championships earlier this month, winning both the time trial and road race titles.
But the Tour is a three-week effort with much stronger opposition, such as Denmark’s Vingegaard, who geared up for the race by winning the Criterium du Dauphine at the beginning of the month.
“The wrist is not completely fine,” Pogacar, who said Vingegaard was the big favourite, told a news conference on Thursday, two days before the first stage in Bilbao.
“I feel OK on the bike but the wrist is not back to full mobility, 60, 70%. I did a scan on Monday and two out of three bones have healed but the scaphoid still needs more time.”
For Pogacar, only full speed racing will determine whether he can give his best.
“We will see in the race itself. I had a good training in the last couple of weeks but I didn’t race normally. Normally before the Tour I would race the Dauphine. I think the legs are good, the mentality is super good, I hope I’m ready.”
The opening block of Tour stages are seen as some of the toughest in recent years, with hilly terrain in the Basque country that will make for “explosive” racing, according to Pogacar.
“The first week is going to be really tough, explosive. When I first saw the route I was excited by the first week but with my injury I’m a bit less excited by it now,” the 24-year-old said with a smile.
Vingegaard made a strong impression at the Dauphine, but Pogacar pointed out that his UAE Emirates team mate Adam Yates also performed well, finishing second overall, two minutes and 23 seconds off the pace.
Pogacar is, however, fully focused on himself, not on his main rival.
“I have my performance in my mind, I try to focus on our racing as it’s not only Jumbo-Visma (against us). There are many more teams. In cycling you need to focus on yourself,” he explained, adding that he had learned his lesson from last year, when he failed to keep his cool when under attack.
“Last year was a big experience for everybody and we will try to be better this year. Last year I was good enough to win but Jonas was stronger at certain points in the race so I will try to be careful this time. We will be trying to do our thing and win it.”
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)
