This is how the winners look: Tadej Pogačar wins the Lombardy tour (12.10.2024)
When the 112nd Tour de France begins on Saturday, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) is again a top favorite. The 26 -year -old Slovenian, who was overall winners in 2024, 2021 and 2020, was able to clearly distance the most important competitors in the most important preparatory race: Almost a month ago, he was significantly slower at the eight -day Critérium du Dauphiné than Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma – Lease A Bike), which in turn from Remco Evenepoel (SOVEPOL Quick-Step) was beaten. However, the balance of power ran on the crucial mountain stages, and the Belgian third party of the past France tour was distanced earlier than the Danish second of the 2024 tour.
Pogačar had previously scolded seven victories on fourteen racing days this year, with only one mistake made him: at the Amstel-Gold race, he ended up in second place in April because he had lured himself out of the reserve too early. It was simply unnecessary to promptly went to Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), since the French double world champion – unfortunately – had behind him and the 33 -year -old could not be feared that he would go 47 kilometers of solo to victory. Instead, the Slovenian soon struggled alone – just to be obtained and beaten in the sprint of a group of three.
He last showed himself similarly overwhelmed in 2022 on the eleventh stage of the tour when he was part of every acceleration of his compatriot Primož Roglič, although he was already plagued in the overall ranking and was plagued by the sequences of falls. As is well known, the result was that Pogačar could not follow the main competitor Vingegaard on the final increase and also had to leave him overall success. The 28 -year -old Dane will now hope to be able to lead the previous year’s winner to comparable errors in order to have another second overall victory of 2023.
Vingegaard can no longer count on Roglič as a colleague because he is now driving for Red Bull – Bora Hansgrohe. Although the 35-year-old Slovenen was screwed up his original season goal of a second Giro victory by notorious crash, it is nevertheless hoped for unpredictable tactical maneuvers. Because Roglič can hardly build the official goal of a podium, even if he should be in top shape even after it was prematurely ended when it comes to the tour of Italy. The four-time Vuelta winner from 24-year-old German Florian Lipowitz will expect support. The third of the Dauphiné should strive for a similarly good place for himself as on the past Spain, where he was seventh.
Evenepoel is not available comparably strong noble helpers, which may justify, which is why the third year’s third does not want to speak of the tour of the tour. The 25-year-old Vuelta winner from 2022 gives the goal as the goal with reference to the start of the season delayed by a fall. Unlike the Belgian, Vingegaard, however, has two drivers who have recently gained three-week national tours in the recent past: Simon Yates, the Vuelta winner from 2018, recently triumphed at the Giro d’Italia; However, it is questionable to what extent the 32 -year -old Briton was able to recover from the hardships last month, which cost him that success. In the contingent, the 30-year-old American Sepp Kuss, who won the Spain in 2023, has also been found, but has not returned to the form of that point of career. Just as little of these two is expected by colleague Matteo Jorgenson, the new winner of Paris – Nizza and Eighth of the last tour, that he could keep Pogačar in the high mountains. So it is all the more advisable to encourage these drivers into comparatively unconventional attacks and testing tests, to which their captain could react themselves. Vingegaard in the Dauphiné demonstrated aggressiveness in any case, and even if Team Visma sometimes stumbles over their own tactics in classics, it often seems to be a thoughts of the competition for the competition.
One more reason, which is why Pogačar should now tend to a conservative driving style – especially since his team leadership seems to be on the hose regularly on tactical issues. This was not only the case with the Giro, but also in the second most important preparatory race on the tour of France, at the Tour de Suisse. There, João Almeida seemed to have overslept the preliminary decision right on the first stage – which was why, of course, all the more impressed that he could then collect the overall victory in addition to three stage wins. The 26 -year -old Portuguese, who ended in all six Grand Tours, which he ended, landed among the top ten, should become Pogačar’s most important noble assistant thanks to his inimitable toughness.
