Tadej Pogacar will pass in a month of the infinite glory of Giro to the Achilles heel of the Tour. He will arrive at the French round as the main favorite to win, but knowing that Jonas Vingegaard He has found the formula to defeat him if the Danish star is on the way out. Nothing seems to indicate otherwise.
The Visma leader is the only rider who has been able to beat him and clearly in the last two years of competition and always in the Tour, which despite decades and races that pass, continues to be the great cycling event of the season. Pogacar He has emerged victorious from the first face-to-face duel with his compatriot Primoz Roglic (Tour 2020) and with Remco Evenepoel they have not yet faced the handlebars of their bikes. The four will meet on June 30 in Florence, this year’s start date for the Tour.
Pogacar will travel to the Tour in just a month after having won the Giro this Sunday by beating (Tim Merlier he scored the last of the 21 sprint stages in Rome) but without anyone putting him in difficulties. In this way he has won all the races held this year except the Milan-San Remo where he was third because he could not break the test on the climb to the Poggio and because the ‘classicisima’ was resolved in a sprint.
Without seeing the great rivals
However, he has not faced opponents who run at the same level because he chose different routes and because the serious fall of Itzulia prevented him from Evenepoel y Roglic They competed in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which he won after a solo attack 35 kilometers from the finish line. Pogacar and Vingegaard They have not seen each other since the Tour ended in Paris on July 23, 2023.
Along the way there has been the severe fall suffered by Vingegaard (April 6 during the dispute of the fourth stage of Itzulia): broken collarbone, several ribs and a pneumothorax that forced him to be hospitalized for 12 days. He has been training practically the entire month of May and will go to the Tour, unless there is a change of plans, without competing again beforehand. Roglic y Evenepoel They return to competition next Sunday at the Critérium del Dauphiné.
Pogacar will not put a bib on his back again until the Grande Boucle. The figures and records achieved now in Italy are impressive: six stages won like Eddy Merckx in 1973, he has been dressed in pink since the second stage, he has been second twice and third once, in addition to also winning the mountain classification by a landslide. He has also achieved the second best difference between first and third since the 1965 Giro.
No attacks from opponents
We have yet to see a minimal attack from any of the two closest rivals in the general standings: the Colombian cyclist Daniel Martinez (second) and Welsh Geraint Thomas (third). Apart from Pogacar, the only rider who has given a show has been Julian Alaphilippe, but far from the positions of honor in the general classification in a Giro in which Pelayo Sánchez, winner of a stage and new Spanish bet in the art, has appeared in society. of scoring victories. The first Spaniard in the classification has been Juanpe Lopezvery invisible, in 36th place, more than two hours from Pogacar.
Tadej Pogacar’s numbers in 2024
31 days of competition and 5,250 kilometers traveled.
Winner of the Strade Bianche after an 82-kilometre break.
Third in Milan-San Remo.
Winner of the Volta with four stages and mountain classifications and points.
Winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège after a 35-kilometer breakaway.
First classified in the Giro with six stages, the mountain classification and 9.56 minutes difference with the second cyclist overall (Daniel Martínez).
Pogacar’s honors (25 years)
Two victories in the Tour (2020 and 21)
A victory in the Giro (2024)
Twice second in the Tour (2022 and 23)
Third place in the Vuelta (2019)
11 stages in the Tour
6 stages in the Giro
3 stages in the Vuelta
3 victories in Lombardy (2021,22 and 23)
2 Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2021 and 24)
1 Tour of Flandes (2023)
2 Strade Bianche (2022 and 24)
Amstel Gold Race and Walloon Flecha (2023)
1 Walloon Arrow (2023)
2 Tyrrhenian-Adriatic (2021y 22)
1 Tour of Catalonia (2024)
1 Paris-Nice (2023)
Bronze in Tokyo and in the 2023 World Cup.
2024-05-26 16:52:56
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