After the impressive triumph at the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tadej Pogacar will start the Tour de France, which started on July 05, as a clear favorite. Jonas Vingegaard goes into the race as a challenger. Ex-bike professional Jan Bakelants does not believe that the Dane has a real chance of the overall victory in the tour of the France.
“I read between the lines that you try to talk yourself to at Visma Lease A Bike that you will have a chance of the tour victory,” the Belgian opens his column for “Het Laatste Nieuws”: “But the way Vingegaard deals with the superiority of Pogacar, as well as the way he drove, seemed more like the white flag.
The Bakelants, who resigned in 2022, therefore does not calculate with an “exciting tour de france”: “As it currently looks, only a fall or heavy material bad luck can still tip the balance of power.”
Tour de France: Vingegaard should “whisper white flag”
He does not understand criticism of Pogacar, who was recently accused by experts that he endangers his tour victory with the start of numerous spring classics.
“I also do not think that Pogacar needs the ideal tour preparation to win. Even with a suboptimal preparation, the difference is enormous. The conditions are already set in stone,” the 39-year-old continued: “The distance between Vingegaard and Pogacar seems to be even bigger compared to the previous year.”
Video: Pogacar – The narrow -shouldered “cannibal”
Bakelants finds that the balance of power in the run-up to the seasonal highlight is “not bad at all. I am more annoyed by the way his team leadership tries to deny it. There is nothing to be praising the white flag on the victory on the tour,” he demanded from the Vingegaard team.