Pogacar Prepares for Tour de France Lead Challenge
Pogacar: “True Indicator” of Rivals’ Form Yet to Come as Tour de France Enters Crucial Second Week
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Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) believes the true test of his rivals’ form in the Tour de France is yet to come, despite holding notable time advantages over key contenders like Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). The Slovenian rider, who has been a dominant force in the early stages, acknowledges the high level of competition but points to the upcoming mountain stages and the uphill time trial as the real differentiators.
Early Stages: A Nervous Prelude to the Mountains
The opening nine stages of the Tour de France were characterized by their short,explosive,and often stressful nature. Pogacar noted the intensity of these stages, highlighting how all teams demonstrated their ability to control the race and fight for position. “The level is so high in this Tour – [the first] nine stages were short, explosive, nervous, stressful – all the teams show that they can ride the front, they can they can fight,” Pogacar stated.
Stage 10 marked the first truly demanding day, and Pogacar admitted it was “super hard to control.” Despite his team performing well, even with the loss of João Almeida and Pavel Sivakov suffering from illness, Pogacar feels that the early stages haven’t provided a definitive picture of his competitors’ capabilities. “We can already see who is where, a little bit, on the climbs. But I think it’s not really a true indicator of the other GC contenders,” he explained.
The Crucial Second Week: A Condensed Challenge
The second week of the Tour de France, compressed due to the shifted rest day, presents a condensed but intense challenge. With only five stages, three are expected to be particularly demanding.Pogacar anticipates a rapid progression through this week, with the shortened nature of the second week and the inclusion of a time trial in the middle accelerating the race.
“I expect it’s going to be a really fast week in terms of how fast it will end because we extended the first week for one day, and so now the second week is one day shorter – and also, one time trial in the middle, so everything will go super speedy,” Pogacar commented.
He believes this week could be highly decisive, noting that it mirrors the difficulty of the final week in many Tours. “I think this week can already be quite decisive. Normally, the second week is already always reserved a bit for semi-mountains and breakaways and maybe one big mountain day. But this year,this week is almost as hard as the final week. So I think we can see already some big gaps in the GC in the upcoming days.”
Key Stages on the Horizon
Pogacar expressed particular anticipation for two upcoming stages: Hautacam and the uphill time trial at Peyragudes. These stages are expected to be pivotal in shaping the general classification. “I feel it’s going to be an interesting week, I’m looking forward to Hautacam and especially for the time trial at Peyragudes – these two stages, I am really looking forward to. And then it’s almost already the third week.”
The Road Ahead: Toulouse and Beyond
The Tour de France continues on Wednesday with a 156.8km circuit around Toulouse.The stage features four small fourth-category climbs, with a more significant challenge coming in the form of the Côte de Pech David (800m at 12.4%) within the final 10km, perhaps offering opportunities for attacks or a reduced bunch sprint.
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