Ahead of the first Grand Tour of the year at the 2024 Giro d'Italia, rather than a question of who will take the Maglia Rosa to Rome, it seems most are asking by how many minutes Tadej Pogacar will eventually prevail.
"I fear that the general classification may indeed become a bit boring, although it is cycling and not a mathematical equation," previews Eurosport commentator and former rider Karsten Kroon on the Kop over Kop podcast. "The race still has to be run. But there are very certainly things I am looking forward to. The presence of Cian Uijtdebroeks who can go for a ranking and aspires to a podium."
The presence of Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Uijtdebroeks is also something that excites Kroon's Eurosport co-worker, Jeroen Vanbelleghem. "Yes, of course I am really looking forward to that. Last year he completed his first big tour well with an eighth place in the Vuelta. He wants to improve that this year," the expert explains. When it comes to viable challengers for Pogacar however, Vanbelleghem has concern. "The field of participants is not fantastic behind Pogacar."
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With the likes of Geraint Thomas, Ben O'Connor, Romain Bardet, Juan Pedro Lopez, Damiano Caruso, Antonio Tiberi, Luke Plapp and Eddie Dunbar all likely to join Uijtdebroeks and Pogacar in the general classification fight, the battle for the podium could be an open and exciting one. "He can certainly have big ambitions," Vanbelleghem says of the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader. "I am very curious whether he can realize them."
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