Teammate Bax assured Tadej Pogacar is in form for Tour de France: "I actually never thought for a moment that he wasn't ready"

Tadej Pogacar is having nothing but good signs around him when it comes to the preparation for the Tour de France, he is no longer using a cast on his wrist and teammates continue to mention his good form ahead of what is his main goal of the season.

“I do have the feeling that I am still building up a bit, because Liège is not that long ago. Then I took a week off and then started training again. The form is coming, but I think it will only really come after Switzerland," Sjoerd Bax told In de Leiderstrui at the Tour de Suisse. "Last year I already went on an altitude training camp with my girlfriend. That went very well then. It's a bit different now, but we'll see. It was all well organized, but the weather was not perfect. We had a lot of snow and hail, but luckily we were able to train well. I had expected to go there with forty degrees and sun, but it was Dutch weather. Just like in the Giro."

The Dutchman had a very busy spring after being signed by UAE Team Emirates, and his racing schedule included important support stints in races such as the Vuelta a Andalucia, the cobbled and Ardennes classics, all of which places where Pogacar has taken wins. He's been training in altitude in this period before the Tour de Suisse and managed to meet up with the Slovenian, and reports he was looking fit and in form.

"He looked good, I actually never thought for a moment that he wasn't ready. If his wrist is good, and it seems to be moving in the right direction, then he's ready," Bax assures. "It was a bit difficult mentally with his wrist. Otherwise he would have had a week off season/vacation, but now he had to start rehabilitation immediately. So that's tough, but also nice how he does it. He trained well at home."

As UAE reinforced their squad and look to retake the Tour de France title, they seek to take an incredibly strong lineup to the Tour. Bax may not have place in the team but he is a reserve, if he was to participate he'd play an important role in the flat and hilly stages whilst the team looks to provide protection in the mountains with the likes of Adam Yates, Rafal Majka and Marc Soler.

“I am now reserve for the Tour, but something crazy has to happen to be able to go there. We have such a strong selection, also with reserves. It's really cool to ride with those guys, you also pull yourself up on such an altitude training. Where you would blow out with another team, you ride well here," Bax concluded.