Tadej Pogacar at the start of Flanders: " I don’t just have to think about Mathieu, but also about Wout and the other riders"
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar has started the Tour of Flanders today in the rainbow jersey and looks to do what Mathieu van der Poel did last year: Win with the same equipment. However he will have to go through the Dutchman and drop him on the climbs, a mammoth task that is required to win the second monument of the season.
“It’s a bit chilly, but the atmosphere is great in Bruges. I’m really looking forward to it," Pogacar said at the start this morning to Sporza. The weather forecast shows relatively strong winds throughout the day, coming from the side on most of the roads into the Oude Kwaremont which opens up the action in the cobblestones.
That ascent will be ridden three climbs and it's where in 2023 he attacked to victory. He jokingly replied to the question of whether he would attack there again or not: "I can’t say anything about that. This is top secret".
Pogacar begins the race as the big favourite alongside van der Poel, and expects an attacked race, but also a rival that is in incredible form, something he managed to witness first hand at Milano-Sanremo, where the climbs weren't however as hard as today's.
“He is perhaps in the best shape of his career at the moment. It will be difficult to beat him, but I feel great too. Let’s make it a great battle. I don’t just have to think about Mathieu, but also about Wout and the other riders.”
“The weather conditions are perfect for a great race,” he concluded. “It’s chilly now, but it will get a bit warmer. It will be a great day for the riders and the spectators.
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