Pogacar insists Vingegaard is not his only Tour de France rival
Another year, another Tour de France, same favourite. Jonas Vingegaard is reinvigorated by his Giro d’Italia victory and Paul Seixas is writing the first chapter of his Tour adventure, but world champion Tadej Pogacar sets out as the man most likely to carry the yellow jersey to Paris.
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Twelve months ago, as he cruised to a crushingly dominant overall victory, Pogačar repeatedly hinted at a certain jadedness with the business of riding and winning the biggest bike race in the world.
At some point last winter, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad seemed to accept that things would have to change in order for Pogačar’s July dominance to stay the same, and so they devised a programme that would see him line up for just 16 race days ahead of the Tour.
Pogačar began his season with five Classics, winning four of them, before he turned his attention to stage racing at the Tour de Romandie in late April. He annexed four stage wins and overall victory there, before finishing his build-up to July with a hat-trick of stage wins and the overall title at the Tour de Suisse.
Speaking to reporters at his pre-race press conference in Barcelona on Thursday, Pogačar insisted that he enjoyed racing as much as he ever did, despite his pared-back schedule in the early season.
“Only 16 days of racing, but the training kilometres are also counting. There has been a lot, so I think we are ready,” Pogačar said.
“I enjoy racing all my life, but maybe I enjoy it more every year because I stay in the same team, with the same riders and people around me. Every race I feel better to come back, to have a good time with the teammates and the staff. The race is also just there, but mainly I enjoy being in the team and around the guys and having a good time.”
Pogačar’s chief rival at this Tour is a familiar one too, of course. The Slovenian and Vingegaard have claimed the top two places for the last five years, an unprecedented duopoly in Tour history, with Vingegaard claiming overall victory in 2022 and 2023.
Although a clash with Vingegaard seems the most likely outcome again this time out, Pogačar pointed to teammate and debutant Isaac del Toro as a potential contender after his wins at the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes this year.
More than one rival
“I don’t think he’s the only one,” Pogačar said of Vingegaard. “There are quite a few guys who can aim for the victory and the guy next to me [Del Toro]. The competition between me and Jonas has been spectacular and it will continue for a few years more. We push each other to new heights every year and we will see how far we will go.”
Pogačar missed the Slovenian championships last weekend, preferring to spend time with his partner Urška Žigart after she broke her jaw in a crash at the Tour de Suisse.
“It was a good decision to stay home together these days. It was a pretty good time,” said Pogačar, who downplayed the idea that he is backed by the strongest iteration yet of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. His supporting cast features Del Toro, Brandon McNulty, Adam Yates, Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch, Nils Politt and Felix Grossschartner.
“This year, I think it is about the same as last year,” said Pogačar. “Isaac is a very important member of this team. We are aiming to win the Tour de France, and we will try to achieve that.”
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