Tadej Pogacar feels threatened by Daniel Martinez at Giro d'Italia according to BORA DS: "I try and read behind the lines"

Sitting pretty in pink at the top of the general classification by 2:40, it's easy to assume Tadej Pogacar is without rival at the 2024 Giro d'Italia. According to BORA - hansgrohe's sports director, Enrico Gasparotto however, 2nd placed Daniel Martinez is causing the Maglia Rosa concern.

“He’s been quite solid because as I’ve mentioned he was second behind Tadej Pogacar on two mountain-top finishes. I would say we’re in a good spot at the moment and he’s feeling good,” Gasparotto says optimistically in conversation with GCN from the Giro d'Italia, with BORA - hansgrohe clearly growing in confidence over their leader's GC capabilities heading into the final stages.

With a big weekend upcoming, it's possible the GC could be completely rewritten. “We are approaching an important weekend with the time trial on Saturday but then the queen stage on Sunday with more than 5,000 metres of elevation. We have to be clever enough and use our strategy to have a good time trial first but without spending too much because the day after is pretty demanding,” Gasparotto says, convinced that Martinez can still threaten the Maglia Rosa of Pogacar.

“It’s possible yes,” he insists. “But everyone here at the Giro has his own dreams and his own targets. We came here as a team with Martínez as a GC rider. That was a clear role and he’s doing well. Where we finish in Rome, well there are still ten days to go and the last week is crazy hard, like it always is in the Giro. But it’s in the mountains, which are perfect for Dani. That’s why we’re confident that we can do well. I don’t want to say what we can do but I think we can be great.”

In fact, Pogacar himself is well aware of Martinez's threat Gasparotto believes. “In my opinion, he’s already looking at Martínez. I’m checking each and every interview that Pogacar is doing and I try and read behind the lines," explains the sports director. "Yes, I think that he’s looking at Martínez for sure. We’ll see day by day.”