The beginning of this 12 months’s Tour de France should still be almost two months away however Tadej Pogačar (UAE Workforce Emirates) is already embroiled within the preparation that comes with the pursuit of one other yellow jersey.
“The stress for this 12 months’s Tour is already there, but it surely offers me additional motivation,” Pogačar informed RTV Slovenia.
“I will the Tour with an method so I can repeat once more and win the yellow jersey for the third time.”
The 2-time winner mentioned he’s slowly stepping up his coaching, which he has just lately been doing on house roads in Slovenia after he lower brief his final racing block to assist his fiance Urška Žigart after the demise of her mom.
Nonetheless, Pogačar will quickly transfer additional afield, heading off for extra Tour de France stage reconnaissance, so as to add to his publish Tour of Flanders exploration of the cobbles of Stage 5, earlier than a 3 week block of altitude coaching in Livigno, Italy.
“Subsequent weekend I will the Pyrenees to see the phases of this 12 months’s race, then the chronometer after which three phases within the Alps,” mentioned Pogacar.
“I will be busy earlier than the altitude coaching, we’re already on the Tour.”
UAE Workforce Emirates have just lately introduced that Pogačar and his teammates will practice at altitude in Livigno, near the Italian-Swiss border and Sankt Moritz.
Pogačar mentioned he may also be wanting to slot in one other block of racing earlier than the Tour de France, returning house to defend his Tour of Slovenia title from June 15 to June 19, in a bid to “return to the aggressive rhythm to get used to a big group, assaults and excessive coronary heart price”.
“After the Race round Slovenia I do not know what awaits me in within the meantime, possibly I will go to the heights once more for per week, after which I will go to Copenhagen to start out the Tour, ” Pogačar mentioned.
Pogačar named fellow Slovenian Primož Roglič as his greatest Tour de France rival in 2022.
Roglič completed second in 2020, with Pogačar taking the lead from his fellow Slovenian within the time trial on the penultimate stage. In 2021, nevertheless, the three-time Vuelta a España winner did not attain Paris, finally abandoning after two heavy crashes within the early phases of the race.
Knee ache has had an influence this season, with Roglič not having raced since Itzulia Basque Nation in early April, however his Jumbo-Visma workforce final week mentioned that after a interval of rehabilitation he’s now ramping as much as a full coaching load as he heads to a workforce coaching camp in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
Roglič’s knee points, nevertheless, do not seem to have modified Pogačar’s regard for the menace he poses within the race for yellow.
“We drive one another to the end line, everybody needs to win for his or her workforce. It will likely be the identical on the Tour,” Pogačar informed RTV Slovenia.
“I’m already wanting ahead to this duel – in fact there are others – however additionally it is in my thoughts that Primož is probably the most harmful for me.”
