Jumbo-Visma "will try to find out" Pogacar's weak spots as they eye Tour de France win
CyclingSunday, 12 June 2022 at 13:00
Jumbo-Visma have had a very clear goal since the start of the season and that is the yellow jersey in Paris. The Dutch team are putting all eggs on one basket in order to achieve that win that has eluded them for the past two years, and will be fierce contenders to Tadej Pogacar.
“At the Tour will find out if we did the right things in our preparation, but I believe we can go to the Tour with a lot of confidence," Steven Kruijswijk said in an interview with VeloNews. "It’s always possible to improve. Primož has shown he is capable of winning grand tours and stage races, so he has all the aspects to win it, but in the end, you have to beat all the other guys". That includes two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar who will be attempting a third title in a row, and has taken an overwhelmingly dominant win during last year's edition.
“Pogačar has won it the past two years and the other races he’s won, so it is hard to say he has a weak point,” Kruijswijk added. “We will try to find out, and hopefully we can find it, and we can make use of that.” Jumbo-Visma are the team that's heading towards the Tour with the most complete and focused lineup towards the final win, and are likely to be the Slovenian's major opponent.
“I think we are on track, if you see how the guys are doing here. We have had a good camp and we’ve been together for some time now," the Dutchman added. Showing good form in the French race and having proved himself over the last few years, Kruijswijk has been solidifying his position in the upcoming Tour of which Jumbo-Visma are still having to make tough decisions.
“We cannot control how good Pogačar will be, but hopefully our team strength will help Primož and Jonas to be able to fight for yellow," he concluded.
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- You're spewing nonsense. MVDP was at Liege too. Jonas did his best ever numbers in the Tour, as did Evenepoel. In the worlds, MVDP wasn't the only one chasing and a large part of the route was flat. Oh, did you forget that Pogi soloed 80 ks? What about the 80ks at Strade Bianche? The training ride at the Lombardia? And man, I can't stand how dismissive you people are of his Giro dominance. "There wasn't anyone around to challenge him" yeah well whenever a cyclist wins it's because there was no one else around who would be good enough. I'm sick of this imaginary opponents argument. Who was supposed to be there to challenge him anyways? Do you think Roglic or Evenepoel could do anything? Or Vingegaard, who always trains to peak for the Tour?Ayrton08-11-2024
- What a great ride that day, and what a great young rider. I am really looking forward to what he'll do next, and his attitude about racing is great. Let's hope he keeps that.RidesHills08-11-2024
- everyone should TRY to remember that just a year ago it was pascal the couldn’t remotely hang with vingegaard at the tour. the explanation for that was that pog had injured his wrist and that had interfered with his preparation. compare what a damaged wrist would do to your prep vs. what happened to vingegaard. i think a 100% healthy pogacar vs. a 100% healthy vingegaard at the tour is just about even money. hopefully that’s what we’ll get.OCexile08-11-2024
- i still believe that a thoroughly healthy jonas is at least a match for pogačar. i think some of tadej’s new aura of crushing invincibility comes from a year when everything lined up for him just right. to be clear, i’m NOT saying he’s not the most gifted rider on the planet! he IS! but… liége is made for him; there was NOBODY at the giro to challenge; jonas, for all his spirit, was broken and a shell of his true self at the tour. the Worlds course was a perfect fit for this year for pog, where slimmed down but still MUCH bigger van der poel still kept the gap under a minute in a course that REALLY didn’t suit HIM. my point is that i actually don’t think tadej suddenly launched himself to a level of ability far, far above where he’d been before. he’s a great rider that had an historically great year, but i don’t believe he’s become something NEW, and UNBEATABLE. if he’s fully healthy, i really expect jonas to be as much of a handful for pog as pog is for him.OCexile08-11-2024
- seriously, ESPECIALLY when paired with each other. when they put bob with phil, it’s like bob KNOWS he needs to tighten everything up because phil (god bless him) is losing his marbles. bob is actually pretty GOOD when he’s on phil duty. and when they took vande velde OUT of the booth with bob an put him on the back of a motorcycle, he was suddenly smart and edgy again. put those two guys TOGETHER though, and bob suddenly becomes the dumbest, sloppiest, most ill-informed pogacar and van aert fanboy on the planet, unleashing a constant stream of dim-witted, chuckling hyperbole, and christian is his enabling toady. yuk. after GCN folded i had to listen to wayyyy to much of their “dumb and dumber” show. they must be separated forever.OCexile08-11-2024
- Good news. Cycling world at least doesn't have rampant racism. But, I think it is partly because it is hard to dislike Biniam. He seems like a jolly good person even though he's a sprinter. Some sprinters are very aggressive/cocky.
KerisVroom08-11-2024 - Good news. Cycling world at least doesn't have rampant racism. But, I think it is partly because it is hard to dislike Biniam. He seems like a jolly good person even though he's a sprinter. Some sprinters are very aggressive/cocky.KerisVroom08-11-2024
- It will be a great race until the stage where it's not. Jonas can only hope for injury or illness to Pogacar. And Remco? There's no training, food, or technology that going to grant him 9 extra minutes in this race.Sweep08-11-2024
- It looks like someone is having a hard time understanding the concept of cause and effect. Perhaps Eli can enlighten us as to what the lowest and worst thing is that can happen IN a race, by a competitor.
santiagobenites08-11-2024 - What!! 5 million for a martinez and a Remco and Vingegaard as well. Something is seriously wrong. Should be 5 mil in 3 years probably.abstractengineer08-11-2024