Five things Pogacar expects from Tour de France week two

New Straits Times

19 hours ago

TOULOUSE: The second week of the Tour de France may be short, but it will be crucial, defending champion Tadej Pogacar said on Tuesday's rest day when he went to the barber, had a burger and enjoyed a French cafe, but was raring to get back on the bike.
Here AFP breaks down the Slovenian's views on the challenges of the week ahead.
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Pogacar has been unusually serious during the opening week of the Tour which he described on Tuesday as "explosive, nervous, stressful and super-hard."
He has also complained about the heat, tiredness and how annoyed he can get by the stonewall tactics from Jonas Vingegaard's Visma team.
"Week two will be really fast," he predicted. But he was not talking about the speed of the wheels, rather that it will be over more quickly due to being a day shorter after the 10-day slog before the first rest day.
Pogacar said it was refreshing to see some new faces like current leader Ben Healy and emerging French star Kevin Vauquelin, and suggested their arrival had muddied the waters.
"The field is packed, it's going to be a huge fight even for the podium and especially for the yellow jersey," the 26-year-old said.
"It's not just the big teams, everyone has proved they can stay up front," he added, explaining the race is harder to control than it usually is.
He also forecast the overall lead would change hands.
"Not tomorrow on the flat, but at the Hautacam," he said of the Pyrenean giant mountain today.
"We'll see if Ben (Healy) can hold on. I hope he feels tired. I want the yellow jersey back."
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While Pogacar paraded to triumph against a weakened Vingegaard in 2024, his thoughts Tuesday seemed to drift back to 2023 when he was routed on a time-trial followed by a mountain slog.
"I'm really looking forward to this week, especially the uphill time-trial to Peyragudes."
Stage 13 is just 11km long, and he lit up when he spoke of it.
"I'm looking forward to the Hautacam but especially to the time-trial at Peyragudes," said the man who is eyeing a fourth Tour triumph with a wistful look.
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Pogacar said the second week was usually a medium mountain affair with lots of breakaways as the Tour built towards a finale in week three, but not this year.
"We are going to see some big gaps in the upcoming days and I think it's going to be good for me. It's almost as hard as the final week."
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When Pogacar, Tour winner in 2020, 2021 and last year, was asked about his rivals he named no names. Instead he cast his net wider.
"In the coming days I'm under no pressure to attack, it's up to them if they want to get ahead of me," he said.
Pogacar stands second after stage 10, 29sec adrift of Healy.
Remco Evenepoel, who says "everyone knows that this is where the Tour starts", is third, a minute behind the Slovenian.
Two-time champion Vingegaard is 1min 17sec behind the Slovenian in fourth. - AFP