The 111th edition of the Tour de France which begins on June 29 in Florence in Italy and ends on July 21 in Nice will be the quest of the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar who dreams of doubling the stake after winning the Tour of Italy in May last.
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Will Tadej Pogacar win his bet: to win the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France in the same year, when the two races take place a few weeks apart? No one since Italian Marco Pantani in 1998 has achieved this feat.
“My form is even better than expected »
After having flew over the Giro with almost ten minutes in advance and six stages at stake, the Slovenian sets the tone before the start of the Grande Boucle in Florence. “I have never felt so good on a bike”, he said. And to add: “I feel like I’ve taken a step forward since the Giro and my form is even better than expected.. » Tadej Pogacar still revealed on Thursday June 27 that he had contracted Covid ten days ago, while ensuring that he had recovered.
Winner of the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, second in the last two years behind the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogaca, 25, approached the 2023 Tour de France after preparation disrupted by a broken wrist.
This year, the leader of the UAE team (United Arab Emirates) arrives in good shape and without having experienced any glitches, while his direct competitors, Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, experienced a difficult spring with a spectacular fall at the Tour from the Basque Country at the beginning of April. “Jonas was really hurt (multiple fractures and pneumothorax, editor’s note) but I think it will be fine. If he is mentally strong and has recovered well, he will be at his best. We saw that Remco and Primoz were already in good shape at the Dauphiné and I think they will be at their best. But you never know »says Pogacar, winner in particular of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic and the Tour of Catalonia this spring.
Pogacar with seven luxury teammates
The UAE team arrives at the Tour de France with seven riders designated to support the Slovenian when they could all have been leaders in many other teams. Nils Politt, Tim Wellens, Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler, Juan Ayuso, Joao Almeida and Adam Yates will therefore be luxury teammates for this quest for the Yellow Jersey, which is so competitive every year.
And to put all the odds on his side, Pogacar has a group that is 100% renewed compared to the squad that accompanied him on the Giro. Physical freshness above all, with 3,498 km on the program, and three weeks of torture.
The Tour de Suisse, the last major preparation race, provided an illustration of the striking force of the UAE. Yates and Almeida made it one and two overall after finishing the last four stages in the top two places to share two victories each. The competition has been warned, Pogacar has no intention of passing his turn.
“We have a team of rock stars, that’s true, but everyone knows that Tadej is the leader.”indicates manager Joxean Matxin Fernandez who recalls that the selection was announced in December, giving everyone time to integrate their role.