At the beginning of the week, the world was still looking splendid for Tadej Pogagar. The Slovenian drove into this Tour de France with a lot of drive and verve, with great optimism and apparently fast legs. In the first two difficult stages in the Basque Country between Bilbao and San Sebastian he made a lot of steam, although he also spoke of not really knowing where he was in the Tour de France after his long lay-off with injury.
Two months and a few days ago he broke bones in his wrist in a fall in the classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège race, and only a week before the start of the Tour had he returned to racing at the Slovenian Championships. He won both titles, in the time trial and on the road. But a certain uncertainty remained, and Pogacar fueled it when he explained that the navicular bone injured in his fall was still not one hundred but only seventy percent flexible and still caused pain on bumpy slopes.
