"It may affect the GC" - Tadej Pogacar wary ahead of Tour de France stage 12

11 stages down, the 2023 Tour de France is already nearing its final phase. Tadej Pogacar sits in 2nd, just 17 seconds behind overall leader Jonas Vingegaard and ahead of stage 12, the Slovenian is stressing the need to be wary.

Stage 11 was quite a quiet day for the general classification riders. Although there had been warnings of crosswinds, echelons did not form. "The race always becomes more nervous when we hit this kind of roads and there is rain, and some wind," Pogacar explains in a post-stage interview. "Yet it was a good day, overall."

Heading into the Tour de France there was some concern for the UAE Team Emirates leader after breaking his wrist at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Now nearly two weeks in, the Slovenian gives an update on how he is feeling. "My wrist is better. I feel the same sore every day, yet after the Tour de France I’ll need a couple of days of rest for it," he says. "It’s shit roads that do the most harm to my wrist, and luckily all roads in France are beautiful."

Finally, Pogacar casts his eye to stage 12. A day that has many possibilities. "Yesterday’s stage (stage 10) turned out to be one of the hardest in this Tour de France, and tomorrow’s is a similar one," he explains. "So we will need to be careful, because it may affect the GC."