Thijs Zonneveld on Tadej Pogacar - "Longer climbs are his Achilles' heel"

Tadej Pogacar may not be in the Maillot Jaune after four stages of the 2023 Tour de France, but the Slovenian has nevertheless been one of the more impressive riders so far. As the race enters the Pyrenees though, Thijs Zonneveld has pointed out what he believes will be of a concern to Pogacar.

Currently riding for BEAT Cycling Club, the 42-year-old Dutchman has been keenly watching the Tour de France and on the podcast, In Het Wiel, Zonneveld discussed the concerns he has for Tadej Pogacar, despite his bright start to the race. "At Jumbo-Visma they also realize that Tadej Pogacar is the best cyclist in the world, but that the longer climbs are his Achilles' heel," he declares.

Stage 5 brings with it the first long climb of this year's race. Although it isn't a summit finish, Zonneveld is expecting Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma to put the pressure on UAE Team Emirates. "The Col de Soudet is really long. Moreover, it contains kilometres of an average of eleven or twelve percent," he explains. "It really is a terrible climb."

"The Marie Blanque is really very steep in the last kilometres. If you build up enough fatigue, it can happen right there. There are not many mountains that professional cyclists take an hour to climb. But with the Soudet on day five and the Tourmalet on day six, there are even two in the Pyrenees stages," Zonneveld continues. "There is a very good chance that something will already happen, if only to create fatigue. We don't know exactly what Pogacar did, but he was injured and he has not visibly trained on the Achilles heel that was exposed last year. I think there will be a pre-decision already, in the next two days. You really start to see what the relationships are like."