Lefevere anticipates Dauphiné battle between Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel - "It would not bother me if he falls through the cracks"

Last year at the Criterium du Dauphiné Remco Evenepoel was the winner of the time-trial but was far from his best in the mountains. However, that proved to be the ideal preparation towards the Tour de France; and so Patrick Lefevere does not have a problem in case the Belgian cannot battle with Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard yet.

“He won the individual time trial, became leader but then fell through in the high mountains. Everyone was disappointed and wondered whether this would turn out well, Remco included because he is a winner. And I was happy," Lefevere said in his Het Nieuwsblad column. After having lost weight, he was considerably stronger uphill at the Tour - alongside his time-trialing and consistency, he joined his two rival in the podium.

“For the simple reason that there are six weeks from the end of the Dauphiné to the end of the Tour. So whoever is at the top at the end of next week, has to try and hold out for another six weeks. Remco proved last year that he knows what he has to do to be ready for the Tour".

Hence, it will be an important preview of the Tour de France, but the reality is that there is still a long way to the days that all three riders are aiming for. And so, if one riders shows too strong form, it may backfire later on in July.

“You can assume that Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar also know that they are not allowed to be at the top yet," the former manager of Soudal - Quick-Step points out. But I do see differences. Vingegaard has not raced much and it has been a while since Paris-Nice for him. He will want to test himself towards the Tour".

"Agreed, Remco can also test himself but it would not bother me if he falls through the cracks. They always say that you have to get a knock from the hammer before you can be in good shape.”

What about Tadej Pogacar, who has actually not won the Dauphiné in the past? “Well, he always races to win, but compared to the others he has raced more and longer. You would think that one day he would also save his energy. Unless of course he has an inexhaustible arsenal of energy, which it sometimes seems like.”