The Giro d'Italia and Tour de France will both have the privilege' of having Tadej Pogacar at the start line. One of the riders who has done this double with GC intentions in the past was Vincenzo Nibali, who shared his opinions on what is one of the stories of the off-season.
“The start of the Giro isn’t so easy, and he could build up a good advantage straight away with the stage to Oropa, the dirt roads at Rapolano Terme and the summit finish at Prati di Tivo. Time trials aren’t a problem for him and with a strong team, he could manage the final week," Nibali told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I’m not surprised,. After four years spent racing on the Tour, winning two editions, it’s a correct and logical decision. Mentally, it does you good to change objectives. Adding the Giro would be a step closer to winning all three Grand Tours. He’d only be missing the Vuelta. A rider like him has to try it.”
And at 25 years of age Pogacar is finally taking a dig at the Corsa Rosa. After four years of solely focusing on the Tour - and other stage-races and classics throughout the year, he will take his Grand Tour abilities to another level. He will be leading UAE Team Emirates alone at the Giro, and join a star-studded lineup at the Tour where the team will try a different approach to conquer the overall classification.
“Pogačar could easily delay his season debut by participating in Strade Bianche and Milano-Sanremo, but I think he will have to sacrifice races like Paris-Nice and Tirreno. Maybe he could include Liège in the build-up to the start of the Giro, but not much more," Nibali believes. At the time being the two Italian races are on the schedule, whilst the team is yet to decide on a stage-race that will be used somewhere along the spring.
Although Jonas Vingegaard would be on paper the man to beat at the Tour de France after two staggering performances, Pogacar will start both as a favourite for victory. The former pro shares that for him it was always a tough task to combine such a schedule.
“I never managed to cope with two big stage races so close together: first the stress of the Giro and then the pressure of the Tour," however if the Slovenian wins in Italy "he would arrive at the Tour with a great result in hand and he wouldn’t carry the weight of being obliged to win the Tour.”
🇪🇸 Matxin gives more information about Pogacar's schedule. 🗣️ "The idea is to keep on changing his targets. We're motivating him every year. It's the first time in his career that he'll combine two GT's. He's 25 years old and we think he's ready." (Het Nieuwsblad) 📸 Cor Vos
