If there's been one guy stirring up excitement lately, it's none other than Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian speedster of UAE-Team Emirates has barely had two months to recover from his wrist-cracking incident at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but now he's already charging headfirst into his biggest goal of the year: the Tour de France. In Bilbao, he took the time to grace the gathered press, including IDLProCycling.com, with some juicy details.
When Pogacar shows up at the starting line, that usually means fireworks are coming. The star rider of UAE-Team Emirates is known to bring the spectacle, and in the past three editions of the Tour de France, that has resulted in a non-stop fiesta of thrilling racing and positive publicity. That's why everyone, including maybe even Jonas Vingegaard, rejoiced when Pogacar casually hopped on a flight to Bilbao this week.
An hour before Pogacar's arrival, his buddy Mathieu van der Poel addressed the press in the Basque Country, harboring high expectations for the Slovenian who resides in Monaco. "We haven't chatted much lately, but I think Tadej must have been putting in lots of training time. I believe he's in great form and racing without pressure, which only makes him more dangerous," the Alpecin-Deceuninck Dutchman said.
Pogacar himself didn't jump the gun - quite understandably. "We'll see in three weeks' time if I'm ready to win the Tour. However, I do feel that my legs are good and my mind is fresh, so hopefully, I'm ready for it," he cautiously stated.
The question that everyone is wondering is: how exactly is that wrist fracture doing? "My wrist feels good on the bike, I think the mobility is around sixty to seventy percent. I haven't had any issues during training, and the CT scan I did on Monday showed that two out of the three bones have completely healed," Pogacar happily stated. "The approach this time was obviously different, but the team is in good form, and the atmosphere is also great."
Just like the rest of the peloton, Pogacar will certainly have to hit the ground running. "The first week is very tough, basically everything is already included. When I saw the route for the first time, I was very excited. After my injury, that enthusiasm has slightly diminished, but I hope I'll be ready. If an opportunity arises, we will certainly try to seize it."
This week, team boss Mauro Gianetti announced that Adam Yates will be deployed by UAE-Team Emirates as a co-leader. Pogacar provided further explanation on Thursday. "For me, having a dual leadership role with Yates is beneficial as I'm not completely certain about my form. From that perspective, it's better to have a back-up plan and go for the overall classification with two riders instead of one."
"Jonas Vingegaard is the main man for this Tour, as he demonstrated in the Dauphiné. And he even mentioned that he wasn't at his best there," the Slovenian says, pinning the role of top favorite on his Danish opponent. "Adam also came directly from altitude training, and he wasn't far behind Vingegaard either. We're not really focused on Jumbo-Visma. We're focused on our own performance and believe that we are very strong as a team."
Ready to rumble, one might say. Starting on Saturday and Sunday in the Basque Country. "The first stage is always tricky, but we've studied the finale, and I think it will be an explosive ride. I expect only ten to fifteen riders to make it that far. Riders such as Mathieu van der Poel could be among them, but it will be a tough task for them as well. In any case, he's the best on that final kilometer."