For the first time since Miguel Indurain and Tony Rominger in 1994, the last two winners of the Tour de France are at the start of the race to the sun. Jonas Vingegaard, winner of the Grande Boucle 2022, finds Tadej Pogacar.
The monarch and the dolphin of the last Tour de France begin a first explanation on Sunday March 5. Ironically, the two riders are participating for the first time in their career in Paris-Nice, the first major stage race of the season on French territory. This duel at the top should delight cycling fans for this repeat of a revenge that promises to be crisp next July.
Two runners already in very good shape
The eight stages leading the riders from Yvelines (Paris region) to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on Sunday March 12 are all the more eagerly awaited as the two men have managed a gargantuan start to the season. Pogacar already has five victories in six days of racing. And Vingegaard was downright full of success by winning the three stages plus the general of the Gran Camino in Spain.
Pogacar and Vingegaard have so far favored the Italian race of Tirreno-Adriatico where they had finished in this order in the first two places in 2022, before the Dane supplanted the Slovenian on the Tour. ” Pogacar will want to show that he is the bossunderlines the director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme. The strength of Paris-Nice is to project immediately into July. It’s really a mini Tour de France with summit finishes, a time trial but also flat stages with wind “.
” Tadej Pogacar a serene, humble leader who does not put pressure on his teammates? Everyone knows what to do and does it in the best possible way. He always thanks us and it shows the cyclist he is. Even though he’s won the biggest stage races, he’s a five-star person. He is not in revenge vis-à-vis Jonas Vingegaard “, said his teammate Rui Oliveira at the microphone of RFI.
A final weekend at the top?
The novelty this year will be the team time trial on Tuesday March 7 in the Loiret which returns after thirty years of absence with a new format. Rather than taking the time of each team on the fourth or fifth runner to cross the line, the clock will thus be stopped when the first to arrive passes. The day after the time trial, the race will arrive at La Loge des Gardes, a family ski resort above Vichy, after a 6.7 km climb at an average speed of 7.1% where the favorites should to explain.
Before a final weekend around Nice, with the ascent of the highest peak in the history of the event, the Col de Couillole (1,678 m) presenting 15.7 km of ascent at an average of 7.1% on Saturday March 11, and a final stage on Sunday, taking the traditional Col d’Eze.
Words by Rui Oliveira collected by Marco Martins