Although Pogacar in pink is the likely situation by the time the race reaches Rome, should any injury, illness or incident befall the
UAE Team Emirates leader, the other riders must be ready to take advantage says Voigt. "It is true that nothing is over until Rome is reached - we saw that at the last Giro with top favorite Remco Evenepoel (abandoned whilst wearing pink due to covid ed.)," Voigt explains. "And we shouldn't forget that a podium finish in a Grand Tour is an outstanding achievement - and riders like
Geraint Thomas,
Romain Bardet, Daniel Martinez,
Ben O'Connor etc. should be very happy and proud about that. Accordingly, these guys will watch each other and neutralize each other to a certain extent. The fight for the top 5 will be very exciting, but by all accounts first place is already taken."
With Pogacar also heading to the Tour de France later this summer, Voigt feels a measuring of his efforts will be key in the second and third week. "From my point of view, he will use the early mountain finish on the second stage to get straight to the point. The same goes for the next mountain finish on stage 8 - that's the last time we'll see him in full attack mode," predicts the ex-pro turned analyst.
"There is also the first of the two individual time trials on the seventh day of the Giro: after that he should lead by around two minutes," Voigt concludes. "From then on he takes his foot off the gas, manages the situation with his team and saves energy during the second half of the Giro towards the Tour de France. That would be his ideal scenario, I think."
