Giro: Pogacar ‘used to being favorites but there is no shortage of rivals’ – Cycling

All the lights of the Giro d’Italia, which starts on Saturday 4 May with the Venaria-Turin, are turned on Tadej Pogacar and the Slovenian cannot deny it: “But we are used to being favourites, we at Uae Emirates, sometimes we race right against of us, we will have to be good at controlling the situation from the first stages. There is no shortage of opponents for the general classification, – continues Pogacar – in the front row Bardet and Garaint Thomas, who is always strong at the Giro. And then there are interesting young people who can emerge.”


The winner of the last Liège-Bastogne-Liège already has two Tours de France in his palmares (2020 and 2021) but is making his debut in the pink race and dreams of a historic double: “But I’m not interested in wearing the jersey on the first or second day – he specifies in the press conference the day before – what matters is having her in Rome, at the end of the Giro. That’s why it will be important to measure your strength, to arrive at the last week with a lot of fuel still in your body.”


After the hills of the inaugural stage, with the Superga climb, already on the second day there will be a ‘real’ climb, the climb to the Oropa hill, the scene, 25 years ago, of a historic feat by Marco Pantani: “It’s already a tough test – admits Pogacar – which could reveal something about the progress of the Giro. There are many climbs, I’m thinking of Livigno, Monte Grappa. But I’m confident: the team is there, we’re ready.”

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2024-05-02 15:14:55
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