"The only way of beating Pogačar is if you put 20kg under his saddle for a couple of days" - Sean Kelly over Giro d'Italia pink jersey battle

Sean Kelly, legend of professional cycling and currently a commentator at the highest level, cannot see a way that Tadej Pogacar will be beaten at the Giro d'Italia. This is an opinion widely shared, unless the Slovenian crashes out or faces consequences of illnesses.

"If he doesn’t have any problems with mechanicals, sickness or crashes then I can’t see anyone stopping Tadej Pogacar. I can’t see anyone challenging him and it could be over after just a week of racing if he decides to really dominate," Sean Kelly said in words to GCN. With the absence of Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel and several others of the best Grand Tour contenders in the world; it has become a very difficult task for his rivals to figure out how to even match the UAE Team Emirates rider if he shows his regular form.

"If you look at the opposition it’s not a super strong field so then you’re looking at the fight for the podium, and my picks for second and third are Dani Martínez and Geraint Thomas," the Irishman says. "For me, Martínez can climb, he’s a pretty good time trialist, he’s consistent and he’s a good bike handler. He knows how to stay out of danger and that’s an important skill at the start of the Giro d’Italia with all the sprinters there." However, it has to be said that the Colombian hasn't raced since Tirreno-Adriatico, and only once (at the 2021 Giro) performed in the overall classification. 

"With Geraint, there’s a good performance in him but my only concern is whether he can stay out of trouble in the first few days of the race, as we’ve seen many, many times before that he’s prone to problems," Kelly warns. "The time-trialing will suit him, though, if he can maintain his form. I think the only way of beating Pogačar is if you put 20kg under his saddle for a couple of days. You’d have to handicap him like they do in horse racing. In a straight-out race, I don’t see where he can be beaten at all. He’s too good all around, physically, tactically he can read the race really well and the team around him is really good."