‘Insatiable’ Pogacar favoured in road race
TOKYO: Finding a chink in the armour of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar proved impossible during three weeks of racing around France and the world’s best riders must now try again in today’s 234km Olympic road race.
Pogacar arrived in Tokyo with an iron grip on the peloton and will be the favourite to take the gold medal on a lumpy course that looks tailormade for his vast skill set.
The 22yearold was unbreakable in the Pyrenees and Alps on the way to a second successive Tour de France triumph, so however brutal parts of the Olympic course around Mt Fuji appear it will be unlikely to worry Pogacar.
And while today’s race has a longer list of potential winners than a Grand Tour, Pogacar proved by winning the LiegeBastonneLiege classic this year that he can look after himself in the frenetic oneday classics.
‘‘He rides carefree and loves the bike,’’ his UAE Team Emirates colleague Davide Formolo said during the Tour.
‘‘Everything seems easy to him. He wants to win and win. He’s insatiable.’’
Even if Pogacar’s gas tank is depleted from his exploits in France, Slovenia has an impressive ‘‘Plan B’’ in the form of 2019 and 2020 Vuelta de Espana winner Primoz Roglic.
Not bad for a nation of 2 million people.
Roglic abandoned the Tour early after a crash and, if he has recovered physically, the recharged 31yearold could be ready for a thrilling battle with his teammate.
The course starts at Musashinonomori Park and ends at the Fuji International Speedway and features five big ascents, including one on Mt Fuji itself.
But it is the final climb, the Mikuni Pass, after 200km of hard racing that will likely decide the outcome.
If Pogacar’s defences are not eroded by the time they kick up that 7km legstinger, averaging a gradient of 11%, he will be hard to beat.
With less than a week between the Tour ending and the Olympic race, the big question is whether those who made it to Paris have recovered.
‘‘I’ve bumped into a lot of the Tour guys this week and they all look like corpses, to be honest,’’ New Zealand’s George Bennett, another contender for a medal, said.
‘‘I saw Wout (Van Aert) and he said he could hardly ride his bike for the first few days, but we will know more on Saturday.’’
Belgium’s Van Aert, an allrounder who could be deadly over the last 20 flat kilometres if he is not distanced on the final climb, is a serious rival to Pogacar.
As events in Rio proved five years ago, when Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet took advantage of crashes to snatch gold in a thriller, the Olympic road race is wildly unpredictable and tactics often fly out of the window.
If Pogacar’s guard does slip, there will be plenty of riders ready to pounce, including 2018 Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas, Swiss prodigy Marc Hirschi, Dutchman Bauke Mollema, France’s David Gaudu, Italian great Vincenzo Nibali, Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde and Australian Richie Porte. — Reuters