Tadej Pogacar will start tomorrow as the biggest favourite, but for many cycling followers ex-winner Wout van Aert is just below that.
“After that illness I am now where I should be, I think. I hope to be very good tomorrow and then maybe gain another percentage for the next races. But I am good enough to win.”
Van Aert shadowed Tadej Pogacar on the Poggio last year, but also destroyed his own chances with that tactic. “I think Pogacar will do it differently this time.”
“For the rest, I also expect a strong Julian Alaphilippe. He may be a bit underestimated now, but he knows perfectly how to time an attack on the Poggio. And I also think of Jasper Philipsen. I see him coming over the Poggio.”
Van Aert himself is already carrying a few grams less over the mountains. “I visited a hairdresser this afternoon. I was ready for a makeover.”
