Tadej Pogacar talks about 'special' relationship with Jonas Vingegaard: "Jonas and I only see each other once a year"

Big rivals and the biggest favourites to win the Tour de France for a third year in a row. We get another round of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Tour and at before the start of the race, the Slovenian talked about his relationship with the defending champion.

"It is already very difficult to win one big tour and the Giro was really not easy. I had to be in good shape and give everything to be able to win. In my mind, the Giro-Tour combination is a big challenge," Pogacar said in an interview with Wielerflits. Nevertheless, Pogacar has gathered full confidence from UAE Team Emirates as all of his teammates have said at one point or another that he is the team leader, despite the lineup's immense quality.

He is the main favourite despite having already raced - and won - the Giro d'Italia, which very much shows how strong he comes into the race and how he continues to develop as a rider. His main rival is expected to be Vingegaard who returns from injury after almost three months away from racing. Asked about how he is with the Dane, Pogacar responds:

“That is a special one. Jonas and I only see each other once a year, actually, during the month of July. It is amazing that we write our names in the history books as rivals. I can appreciate that rivalry, because I respect Jonas. I like seeing him here at the start."

On the first day both may already be deep in action, with 3800 meters of climbing and a lot of heat in the mix. "I think the opening stage is not tough enough to create total chaos," Pogacar says however - could he be bluffing though?

"In the second stage, we will see how everyone is doing on the San Luca. The entire peloton knows that climb from the Giro dell’Emilia. Differences will arise there, but we will still sprint with a small group. Maybe someone can go solo. In the fourth stage, a beautiful, tough mountain stage will follow immediately. I expect the first differences to arise there. From that moment on, we will definitely start acting.”