On July 31, Tadej Pogacar tried his hand at unicycling on stage on the sidelines of the Pogi Challenge, at his home in Komenda. A good idea to revive the suspense in cycling would be to make him race the grand tours on it. While we wait for the UCI to read us, we will continue to watch helplessly as he crushes every race that does not involve beating Mathieu Van der Poel and Wout Van Aert on the cobbles of northern France, Remco Evenepoel in a time trial or Jonathan Milan in a bunch sprint. Starting with the Vuelta, the start of which will be given in Monaco, the Slovenian’s other “home”.
A detail not entirely unrelated to Pogacar's desire to embark on a new three-week epic, although the perspective of completing the career Grand Slam is sufficient in itself. “The Tour of Spain is a goal that is missing in my career,” confirmed the five-time winner of the Grande Boucle on Thursday. I will give my best to succeed in winning. Winning the three Grand Tours has been a big dream for several years. »
Pogacar had “enough time to recover” from his Tour de France
When Tadej dreams, it is never for long and, barring a cataclysm, we should expect to see him parading in red on September 13, near Granada. “Yes but Pogacar is tired”, you will say. Well no. The person concerned was reassuring in this regard. “It hasn’t been a long time since the Tour, but I think it was enough time to recover. »
And if the Tour has to weigh on its feet, it will also weigh on those of Skjelmose, Carapaz, Kuss, Johannessen, etc. Add that his biggest rival in this event, Felix Gall, did the tour of Italy and Primoz Roglic a trip to the hospital after being hit by a car at the end of July, and you get a field of favorites as crimson as the European landscapes under global warming.
“In his interest to start the race as quickly as possible”
Since predicting the victories of the UAE leader - with whom he is in talks for an extension until 2032 - is no longer exciting, let's take the gamble on audacity: Pogacar will have killed the Vuelta even before the peloton enters Spanish territory during the 5th stage.
“It is in his interest to break out of the race as quickly as possible and then enter into management,” wants to believe Steve Chainel, consultant for Eurosport. Even if it's racing against nature, the objective of his season is to seek a third world champion title and whether we like it or not, he already has a Tour in his legs. The Vuelta will be folded quickly enough for Pogacar to use it, and it pains me to say it, as a training race. »
Because as former French champion Anthony Roux reminds us, “the Vuelta is indeed good preparation for the World Championships”. Let’s add the European Championships in Slovenia into the pack, by the way. “On the Tour he was sometimes able to make slightly useless efforts, that’s also his way of racing. If he is 5% weaker but the competition is not there, he can afford to manage. »
Where will he take time in the first four steps?
It remains to be seen where and when the double world champion will fly. Gourmands will count on time saved each day until arriving in Andorra la Vella, while the more cautious will only see two real opportunities to take the break at the start of the Tour of Spain.
Prologue (9.5 km): A completely flat time in Monaco which should not allow Pogacar to open up huge gaps on his rivals, with the exception of… the strongest of them on paper. Felix Gall is angry with the time trial exercise and could be expensive from the start. “The rule is one minute per 10 kilometers on a less good rider,” recalls Anthony Roux. Small bonus, the leader of UAE knows the Monegasque roads by heart.
Stage 2 (214 km, 3,310 D +): No big difficulty but zero flat sections, a pain in the ass par excellence and a very small bump to finish. Ideal for scraping off ten seconds and bonuses in the event that UAE chooses to control the race.
Stage 3 (167 km, 2,660 km of D +): 90 kilometers of flat, the rest of ascent. The percentages will be low, with some exceptions, and Tadej Pogacar could well take advantage of the few launching pads to leave alone towards Font Romeu. There is plenty of room to scratch for at least half a minute.
Stage 4 (105 km, 2,890 km of D +): An explosive and difficult stage with four climbs, including three in first category, where UAE could set a crazy pace from the real start. If Pogacar has to fold the game before arriving in Spain, it's here. Two options: either he attacks in the Coll d'Ordino (1st cat., 9.8 km at 7.1%) located around thirty kilometers from the finish, or he takes the risk of waiting for the last bump at La Comella, a short but irregular climb of 4 km with passages at more than 10% where the gaps can quickly widen. “When Pogacar lines up on a grand tour, he always rewards us with one or two spectacle stages, and I think this stage in Andorra lends itself well to seeing him crush the Vuelta,” anticipates Steve Chainel.
Estimated lead of Tadej Pogacar over his runner-up after four stages: between 2min30 and 5min.
