Tour de France 2022 – challenger wanted for Tadej Pogacar

Tadej Pogacar should once again be the measure of all things at the Tour de France be. However, the young Slovenian has a few challengers.

“Tadej Pogacar, of course.” If you ask around in the paddock or with the relevant experts in the run-up to the Tour de France 2022 about the top favorites for the overall victory, this is the sentence you always hear. The Slovenian, who has already won the Tour in 2020 and 2021, is the man to beat.

However – and those responsible for the tour deliberately did so – the 2022 tour is an extremely treacherous one. It will no longer be enough to be the best climber in order to be at the top in the end. The Tour winner will have to show all-round qualities this year.

Already in the first week with the stages in Denmark and then in the north of France, the “Grand Boucle” More of a multi-day classic race than a classic three-week tour. Wind edges, extremely profiled terrain, narrow streets and even cobblestone passages will force even the favorites to have maximum concentration.

You certainly can’t win the tour in the first week. But you can certainly lose them there. And should a Pogacar make a major mishap, a handful of competitors will get new impetus. A look at the favourites:

Tadej Pogacar (23, UAE Emirates)

When this year’s Tour of Slovenia ended in the third week of June, you could see a relaxed Tadej Pogacar cheering in the yellow jersey again. The overall winner in Slovenia also gets yellow – and it was clear from the first day of the tour that only one would come into question: the 23-year-old cyclist from his own country.

Of course – the Tour of Slovenia is not yet a definitive indicator with a view to the tour. Pogacar lacked the biggest competitors there. But it was always a pointer to the form of the top favorite. And you could see: Pogacar is in top shape again. The all-rounder with strong climbing ability, which also took part in the spring classics in spring, almost effortlessly pulled away from the competition on the mountain.

Rafal Majka was the first to keep up – and he also drives in Pogacar’s team. The 32-year-old Pole should become something like Pogacar’s noble helper in all tour situations. He is experienced and good on all terrains. In the mountains he will be able to stay with him until the decisions are made. The UAE Emirates team is all Pogacar focused anyway. The American Brandon McNulty – probably the most important man next to Majka – was extremely strong in February and March at the Tour of Algarve and Paris-Nice, at the Dauphiné he finished in a respectable 10th place.

Primoz Roglic (32, Team Jumbo Visma)

Pogacar’s biggest competitor is likely to come from his own country again: Primoz Roglic is in top form and is going to the tour with confidence, which has been so unfortunate for him in the past two years. In 2020 he lost what he thought was overall victory on the penultimate stage when he failed to hold an unleashed Pogacar in the individual time trial. In 2021 he fell heavily on the 3rd stage, only to give up the tour a little later.

This year, too, the 32-year-old had to be worried about for a short time when he complained of not inconsiderable knee pain after the spring. Roglic had won Paris-Nice in a superior manner and also won the first stage of the Tour of the Basque Country. But then he took an eight-week break, and before the Dauphiné, nothing had been heard from Pogacar’s biggest competitor for a long time.

But in the pre-tour race through the demanding Dauphiné, Roglic showed himself to be extremely strong and secured overall victory in a superior manner. Particularly impressive: His start on the 7th stage, when he ignited the turbo 1,300 meters before the finish and apparently easily drove away from the mountain competition.

With Roglic, nerves will be important again – if he keeps them, he can certainly seriously challenge Pogacar. But the hectic first week in particular should be a real psychological endurance test for the former ski jumper.

Jonas Vingegaard (25, Team Jumbo Visma)

When Jonas Vingegaard picked up the pace on the last uphill stage of the Dauphiné, only one could keep up: Primoz Roglic, who had difficulty following the 25-year-old Dane. The fact is: With Roglic and Vingegaard, the strong team Jumbo-Visma has a dual leadership that is currently unparalleled in the scene.

What promises the best possible support for Roglic in the mountains could also become the greatest danger within the team: If Vingegaard is more stable and nerve-racking during the tour, the team management could change and proclaim the Scandinavian captain.

Last year he proved that Vingegaard has what it takes to be at the top. At that time he was almost the only one who could seriously stand up to Tadej Pogacar in the high mountains. At times he attacked the Slovenian overall winner so hard that even Pogacar wobbled.

Alexander Vlasov (26, Bora-hansgrohe)

The shock came at breakfast: Corona infection! Alexander Wlasow had to give up without a fight before the 6th stage of the Tour de Suisse – in first place overall. Fortunately, the 26-year-old had hardly any symptoms – just a slight scratchy throat. So the all-clear for the managers of the Bora-hansgrohe team, who are now keeping a very close eye on their Russian tour rider when it comes to the Tour de France.

At the latest after Wlasow won the super difficult Tour de Romandie in early May, he is considered one of the great hopes of the German team. Especially since he was able to win the Tour of Valencia in advance.

Last season, when he (still in the Astana jersey) finished fourth in the Giro d’Italia, WlasoW proved that he has what it takes to be at the forefront of big tours. Actually, at Bora-hansgrohe they hadn’t really set their sights on the overall standings – that could change as the tour progresses.

They already experienced this with the German team at the Giro a few weeks ago, when Jai Hindley performed surprisingly well and even became the overall winner in the end.

Enric Mas (27, Movistar)

Suddenly everything was over for Enric Mas at the Dauphiné. After the Spaniard fell on Thursday, he was unable to compete on Saturday – the pain was too great. The team management took their greatest hope of the tour out of the race “so as not to disturb the preparations for the tour in the long term,” according to the official formulation.

It remains to be seen whether Mas, who has always been in the forefront of big tours in the past, is really ready for the big leap forward. This year, the inveterate climbing specialist got off to a good start, ending up among the top people every day in the Tour of Valencia. However, he only finished the Tour of the Basque Country in ninth place – two fifth stage places were the highest of emotions.

Since his fifth place at the Tour 2020 and the Vuelta in the same year, the top results have been missing.

Daniel Felipe Martinez (26, Ineos Grenadiers)

What card does Ineos Grenadiers play in the Tour in terms of overall standings? With Adam Yates, Geraint Thomas and Daniel Martinez, the British team has three riders in its ranks, all of whom could drive up front.

While Yates and Thomas come with a lot of experience but haven’t gotten past the front runners of the Grand Tour in recent years, young Martinez could have the greatest potential for a real top result.

At the 2021 Giro, Martinez finished fifth. He was one of the strongest Ineos drivers in the first half of the season. He finished third at both the Volta ao Algarve and Paris-Nice, after which he won the Tour of the Basque Country.

Alexei Lutsenko (29, Team Astana)

The 29-year-old Kazakh is the Astana team’s best hope after a serious training accident prevented Miguel Angel Lopez from getting back into shape in time. Lutsenko celebrated a day’s win at the 2020 Tour, stayed with the best in the high mountains for a long time and has proven what it takes to be at the front.

It will be questionable for the 29-year-old whether he can perform at his best day after day. And whether he doesn’t have to give up too much feathers in the first few days on the classic-like stages.