"If all goes well, he will join the team at altitude training" - Joxean Matxin details change of plans for Tadej Pogacar ahead of Tour de France.

How long the injuries of Tadej Pogacar will hinder him is a topic for debate, but the recovery is ongoing. The Slovenian will skip some of the plans that were initially outlined ahead of the Tour de France, but in the big picture not much changes.

“Tadej will now take three weeks of rest," Joxean Matxin told Het Laatste Nieuws, before revealing what was the initial plan for the UAE Team Emirates rider. "Normally a wind tunnel test and the reconnaissance of a number of stages were on the program, but these have been canceled. If all goes well, he will join the team at altitude training."

Read also

The King of Spain's traumatologist believes that Tadej Pogacar will be "ready to compete in 2 or 3 weeks"

The injuries Pogacar sustained at Liège-Bastogne-Liége could see him out of competition for up to five and six weeks, however when it comes to training it's a grey area. He's expected to return to the rollers in the upcoming days, however with difficult wrist injuries it won't be easy to return to the road where the impacts to the area will be quite more meaningful. For the time being UAE have cut some plans but the main part of the preparation for the Tour de France remains.

“We think there is enough time for that. Pogacar is a top athlete, with an incredible medical environment," the team's sports manager believes. "He has the best cards in terms of recovery. In the best case scenario, he will be ready in time for the Tour. The scaphoid is a special bone, so we have to wait for the scan. But all expectations are that it should work out.”

Read also

"We were all riding the same" - Michael Rasmussen holds no grudge after being thrown out of 2007 Tour de France where Alberto Contador took the victory

"I note that this is the second time that the Lotto team has experienced something similar" - Jan Bakelants critical of Lotto Dstny over Lennert Van Eetvelt suspension