Tadej Pogacar does not want to rely on the time trial on the penultimate stage in the fight for his third victory in the Tour de France.
The 23-year-old Slovenian therefore announced many attacks on leader Jonas Vingegaard on the Pyrenees stages from Tuesday to Thursday. “I have to take every chance and attack every climb to gain some time every day. I hope I don’t have any regrets at the end,” said Pogacar. The two-time Tour winner is 2:22 minutes behind last year’s second Vingegaard.
Pogacar wants to make up for this gap in the mountains. “I have to close the gap before the time trial. Jonas is really good. I won’t bet on the time trial and hope to get 30 seconds or two minutes there,” said the UAE team captain. After three days in the Pyrenees with two mountain finishes, Saturday’s tour will be decided against the clock. From Lacapalle-Marival to Rocamadour there are 40.7 kilometers to cover. At the opening time trial in Copenhagen over 13.1 kilometers, Pogacar was just eight seconds ahead of Vingegaard.
In the end, Pogacar would also be satisfied with second place. “It’s not the end of the world if I don’t come to Paris in yellow. Second place is good too,” said the exceptional talent.