Pogacar favored, but rival Roglic confident of win
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Primoz Roglic is looking for a way to stop Slovenian rival Tadej Pogacar from winning the Tour de France for the third straight time.
Pogacar is firm favorite to win the three-week race, which starts in Denmark on Friday and ends in Paris on July 24.
Pogacar won TirrenoAdriatico and the UAE Tour this year, and showed his class with an unprecedented longdistance solo attack to win the Strade Bianche in March — despite being involved in a crash early on in the one-day race.
“I think my shape is good, not too much different compared to last year,” Pogacar said Thursday. “I feel more confident, I also feel stronger, but we’ll see in the race if it’s true or not.”
But Roglic also impressed when he won the Criterium du Dauphine stage race this month to add to his dramatic victory at the Paris-Nice in March.
Roglic was aided at the Dauphine by his JumboVisma teammate Jonas Vingegaard, a climbing ace who is also quick. Vingegaard was visibly moved when Danish fans chanted his name at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen on Wednesday. They will cheer him again in Friday’s opening time trial around Denmark’s capital city.
“As long as we work together, we believe we can beat (Pogacar),” Roglic said. “We are a strong team and we have a lot of qualities.”
Jumbo-Visma has Vingegaard, last year’s Tour runner-up, as a co-leader in case Roglic fades, while Pogacar remains the outright No. 1 on the UAE Team Emirates lineup.
“It’s a big difference having two compared to one. A lot can happen in the Tour, there’s so much stress,” Vingegaard said. “We really want to go with two leaders and we believe we can challenge Pogacar.”
They bonded at the Dauphine by sharing beers after stages on the hotel balcony.
“Jonas is super strong, we’re strong individually, and so the whole team is strong,” Roglic insisted. “We’re super good friends.”
Roglic has won the past three Spanish Vueltas, but is widely remembered for his loss to Pogacar on the 2020 Tour.
Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk and American Sepp Kuss will help Roglic in the mountains. He will need it against Pogacar, who also twice won the polka-dot jersey for best climber.
Meanwhile, teammate Wout van Aert eyes the green jersey for best sprinter. But the one-day classics specialist and former cyclo-cross world champion is nursing a sore kneecap.
Another threat is Australian rider Ben O’Connor, who finished fourth in 2021.
The race features the return of Paris-Roubaix’s cobblestones and six mountain stages with five summit finishes, including the famed Alpe d’Huez ascent with its 21 hairpins.
Before reaching the heights, the peloton discovers Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid during Friday’s eight-mile clock race.
“We have decided that I’ll be the third rider from the team to start. This is the most comfortable way,” Pogacar said. “I don’t think I can win it, but I’ll give the maximum and it’s not too long.”
⏩ Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Daryl Impey (Israel Premier Tech) will miss the race after testing positive for the coronavirus, but Bob Jungels (AG2R Citroen) got the green light after it was deemed he was no longer contagious.
Two or more positive tests no longer lead to automatic team exclusion.
“Teams will be less stressed,” 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas said. “Imagine having the (yellow) jersey, two go positive, and you all have to go home.”
⏩ The women’s Tour starts from the Eiffel Tower on July 24 and has eight stages, including a finish at Planche des Belles Filles.
Annemiek van Vleuten of the Movistar team will be among the contenders. She has three world championships and an Olympic gold medal in time trial, along with many one-day titles.