Pogacar, nonetheless solely 23, is searching for to turn out to be solely the ninth man to win three or extra Excursions, and solely the seventh to win three in a row. Given the 2020 Tour was delayed till late within the 12 months attributable to Covid-19, his would even be the quickest hat-trick ever scored if he’s sporting yellow in Paris on July 24.
Such achievements would put Pogacar’s title alongside among the greats in Tour historical past – five-time winners Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain amongst them – however the Slovenian will save such ideas for an additional day.
Tadej Pogacar can be part of some elite golf equipment on the Tour de France over the subsequent few weeks however a person nonetheless eligible for the younger rider’s classification has no time to consider his place in historical past.
“I don’t take into consideration historical past that a lot, nearly nothing,” he mentioned. “We’ve so many issues occurring in current life. I simply attempt to benefit from the second, have enjoyable on the bike, race all over the world and we’ll see what this brings me.”
What it has introduced him in his quick profession up to now is success upon success. The UAE Workforce Emirates rider has received eight of the final 9 stage races he has began, a run that features the final two Excursions, and 11 of the 18 he has ever contested.
However it’s notable that the one blip in that latest run was his third place on the Tour of the Basque Nation final 12 months, a race received by Primoz Roglic.
Roglic crashed out of final 12 months’s Tour, the one different time the 2 Slovenians have confronted one another in a stage race since Roglic surrendered yellow to Pogacar on the penultimate day of the 2020 Tour.
Roglic’s crash denied followers what ought to have been an enthralling battle for yellow 12 months in the past, one which is able to hopefully play out over the subsequent three weeks.
“For positive, I believe everybody that competes in biking, or in any sport, everybody desires all their competitors to be at their finest with no dangerous luck,” Pogacar mentioned. “I hope we will have an incredible battle within the climbs, all the way in which to the Champs-Elysees.
“I would like everybody to be secure and of their finest form so there aren’t any unanswered questions on the final day.”
However the scary factor for Roglic and everybody else is that Pogacar, who comes into the Tour on the again of victories on the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of Slovenia already this season, mentioned he’s feeling higher than he did earlier than final 12 months’s Tour.
“I get extra confidence by way of the years, extra expertise,” he mentioned. “Coaching has gone nicely, the information is nice. That’s what builds confidence.
“However you continue to by no means know what is going to occur within the race. You’ll be able to have one dangerous day. Even when the legs are higher than final 12 months, when you’ve got one super-bad day it doesn’t matter.”
If not Roglic, maybe the primary factor that may cease Pogacar this 12 months is the risk posed by the most recent wave of Covid-19, which has already compelled plenty of riders out of the race forward of Friday’s opening time trial in Copenhagen.
