"My second plan collapsed" - Might Tadej Pogacar's Tour de France preparation be in jeopardy after Zigart's injuries?

The 2026 Tour de Suisse has been very important for the upcoming Tour de France for several reasons. Tadej Pogacar has taken the overall win dominantly, but his mind was elsewhere - and his preparation for the Tour has changed once again after the crash of his partner Urska Zigart.

With the men's and women's race taking place on the same dates and finishing on the same locations, it was the perfect opportunity for Pogacar to have Zigart close throughout a key part of his run-up to the Grand Boucle.

Both riders were also at a very high level, but at the end of stage 2, Zigart crashed in the final kilometers of the women's race. The fall was a terrible sight, and the Slovenian rider suffered a fractured jaw as a result.

Pogacar considered withdrawing from the men's race, despite leading it by a comfortable margin, but did not do so on request of Zigart - whom he visited at the hospital that day. He went on to win the overall classification.

But in a post-race interview, he didn't hide that his mind was elsewhere: “I am happy with the stage win and the overall victory, but also happy that I can now go home, to Urska," were his first words after the victory in Villars-sur-Ollon.

The World Champion has returned home to Monaco, and might stay there for the next few weeks. Following the end of the Tour de Suisse, he shared in a press conference that he was already not on track for his initial plan into the Tour de France.

However, his 'second plan' has now also collapsed. "I changed a lot of plans in the last two weeks. Now that Urška is recovering, her plans collapsed, my second plan collapsed, and now it's the third plan and maybe in two days it will be plan four".

This raises questions on what Pogacar's plan was, and most importantly, what it will be. While most GC riders head back to altitude following the Tour Auvergne and Tour de Suisse respectively, for their final touches, Pogacar might skip it.

At the time being no decision is taken, as throughout the first days of this week, there will be an attempt to stabilize a difficult situation. "The most important thing is that we stay together the next few days and we see how it is."

It is possible then that Pogacar will not go to altitude again now in the final week and a half that remains until the Grand Depart, and the likely plan is to remain in Monaco. The situation should evolve throughout the upcoming days.