After having conquered the last two editions of the gala round, Tadej Pogacar once again shows himself to be the rival to beat. The Slovenian wants to join a privileged group of cyclists who have won this race for three consecutive years. His compatriot Primoz Roglic and the Danish Jonas Vingegaard, with his powerful Jumbo-Visma, are shown as his main contenders.
Despite the fact that we live in times of modern cycling, in its last editions the Tour de France has presented a face to face that is reminiscent of the best duels of yesteryear. Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic, both from Slovenia, are shaping a rivalry destined to remain in the retina of the fans, as happened with other confrontations such as those starring Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault, or more recently by Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, just to cite a few examples.
In the prelude to departure 2022 Tour de France this July 1 in Denmark, the list of favorites is divided among the rest of the peloton and then the two Slovenians appear at another level. Although this time there is also the Danish Jonas Vingegaard, Roglic’s partner, who appears as a new element in this fight.
At 23 years old, Pogacar has just won the Tour of Slovenia. That title is added this season to his victories in the Tirreno-Adriatico, the Strade Bianche and the Tour of the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE Team Emirates rider is shown as the man to beat not only for that good start, but also for having in front of him a route that includes 53 kilometers of time trial.
A fraction of 13.2 km in the departure this Friday in Copenhagen, and another of 40.7 km in the penultimate stage of the Tour, reinforce him as the strongest of the race, remembering above all his exhibition in La Planche des Belles Filles in the conquest of his first Tour in 2020.
That day, Roglic was unable to complete the dominance that the Jumbo-Visma had exhibited for three weeks. But the Dutch squad once again put all their trust in the Slovenian and also in Vingegaard. The latter is a shadowy leader who was crucial to Roglic’s win at the Critérium du Dauphiné in early June, when he showed that he is on par with Roglic and even better.
Another ally will be the Belgian Wout van Aert, perhaps the most complete cyclist on the World Tour, as well as the American Sepp Kuss, a fearsome climber, and the Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk, third in the 2019 Tour.
The return of cobblestones and a mountain with five high arrivals
This year, the Tour de France will be run in Denmark in its first three stages and then reach Gallic territory. It will be in the fifth fraction, between Lille and Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, when the pavé makes its return to the ‘Grande Boucle’ with 19.4 km of cobblestone divided into 11 sections. There were no cobblestones in the race for four years.
It will be in these first days that the contenders for the general classification must cling to the maxim of saving the day.
The mountain will enter the scene in the seventh stage, on July 8, with a route of 176.3 kilometers with a finish in a first category port in La Super Planche de Belles Filles. It is one of the five top finishes that this edition presents, including Alpe d’Huez on stage 12.
These are not foreign terrains to Pogacar, who also knows what it is to win stages in the mountains.
The threat of Covid-19 does not move away from the Tour de France
After two editions of the race that have gone ahead without major setbacks in the midst of the pandemic, this year the Covid-19 reminds us that it is still a real threat.
The last Tour of Switzerland, one of the great preludes to the French round, was on the brink of the abyss with four teams that had to withdraw completely due to outbreaks within their ranks (the UAE Team Emirates, the Bahrain – Victorious, the Jumbo- Visma and the Alpecin-Fenix). About 30 cyclists were affected.
Given this scenario, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced in the days before the start of the Tour that the appearance of a positive for Covid-19 does not necessarily mean abandoning the competition. The UCI says that it will be the doctors of the squad, the race and the UCI who must decide whether or not to isolate the rider in question.
But nobody wants to speculate. The UAE Team Emirates was already forced to change its selection due to the positive registered by the Italian Matteo Trentin, replaced by the Swiss Marc Hirschi. Same scenario in the Quick-Step, which could not take the French road champion, Florian Sénéchal.
The new regulations also make it mandatory to have a negative antigen test for all team members two days before the start of the Tour. On rest days, tests will also be carried out on both the squads and the commissaires, the anti-doping team and the UCI technical delegates.
A low Latin American representation
Three Latin American cyclists will start this Friday, all Colombians. They are Daniel Felipe Martínez, Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Urán. All three have a great journey in three-week races and in the case of Martínez, he arrives as one of the leaders of the Ineos-Grenadiers.
Daniel had a great start to the season with the achievement of La Vuelta al País Vasco, a podium in Paris Nice and top 5 in both Liège – Bastogne – Liège and Flecha Wallonne. In this Tour he will share the baton of his squad together with the British Geraint Thomas, champion in 2018, and Adam Yates.
Quintana, twice runner-up, will be at the helm of Arkéa – Samsic, who lead a team designed to help their leader finish with a good place in the general classification.
Urán commands the EF-Easypost that carries eight runners from eight different countries. ‘Rigo’ goes to his ninth Tour without the pressure of the favorites but with the experience of few. So, like when he managed to be second in 2017.
with EFE
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