Tadej Pogacar, winner of the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, or Jonas Vingegaard, winner of the Tour de France in 2022. It has essentially been the duel “everyone” has been talking about ahead of this year’s Tour de France. But according to Pogacar’s boss at UAE Team Emirates, Mauro Gianetti, Adam Yates will start in a shared captaincy role alongside Pogacar. A game for the gallery or a real alternative? That is the question large parts of the cycling world are now asking themselves, before Saturday’s opening stage in Bilbao. – We will have to wait and see. We have to believe what they say and then we just have to wait and see, says Danish Vingegaard to news. FOCUSED: Jonas Vingegaard is the favorite before this year’s Tour de France. Photo: Thibault Camus / AP – Have fun with some headlines In the UAE Team Emirates, Norwegian Vegard Stake Laengen believes that it is primarily Pogacar that matters. – But Yates is an incredibly strong rider. Had he been on another team, he would have been a podium candidate. I think he can join up there and then it’s a matter of seeing what happens day by day and then we have to play our cards in the best possible way. It is always an advantage to have two strong riders up there. CONFIDENT MAN: Vegard Stake Laengen has been part of the UAE team that has won the Tour de France with Pogacar twice before and is clear that the team is probably only satisfied with an overall victory in this year’s Tour. – It also means a lot to me that he trusts me and that I have found my place in the team here, says the Norwegian. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB – Is it a bit to lower the pressure on Pogacar that the team launches two captains? – I always think there is a bit of play in the media before the Tour starts and fun with a bit of headlines, says the Norwegian, and continues: – I don’t think we should laugh it off completely either. When the team says it, there is a meaning to it. He was captain in Romandie around and Dauphiné, so he is used to being captain as well. We just have to play those cards as long as we can. Yates: – Supports Tadej 100 per cent Yates himself noted in a meeting with news after the team presentation in Bilbao on Thursday evening that there were an unusual number of people who wanted a piece of him. The Briton is clear about where he stands before the race: – We support Tadej 100 per cent. We all know how good he is and what he is capable of. He’s been out for quite a while with injury, but we’ve all seen him in training recently. As I see it, he is in great shape and we support him 100 per cent, says Yates. You can follow every stage of the Tour de France on radio – news Sport. – Is the team trying to reduce the pressure on Pogacar? – Not really. What I think Mauro is trying to say is that it is good to have cards to play in the final, especially in the last week. When it gets chaotic and people get tired, so we’ll see. Tadej is the first priority, and then we’ll see what happens, he says. TWO IN THE GENERAL TEST: Adam Yates was closest to Vingegaard in the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier in June. Photo: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP Won in Slovenia At a press conference earlier Thursday, Pogacar announced that he has around “60-70 percent mobility” in his wrist. It is the overturn from Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the end of April that has caused problems for the Slovenian. It also saw him skip all the traditional build-up races to the Tour de France and instead charge up at altitude, before riding the Slovenian championship last weekend. There he won both the pace and the joint start. – I think the legs are good. The mentality is great. I hope I’m ready, says Pogacar. – Jonas is obviously the man to beat. He showed a dominant side in the Dauphiné and he has said that he was not in his best form. We can’t wait to see how he will do it now. I couldn’t be in the Dauphiné, but Adam was there. Adam came straight from a training camp to the Dauphiné and was close to Jonas (second, 2.23 behind Vingegaard). I think we can be super strong together, says Pogacar. LARGE NORWEGIAN DELEGATION: As many as eight Norwegians are cycling this year’s Tour de France, largely due to the participation of Uno-X. Shown here by Alexander Kristoff during Thursday’s team presentation. Photo: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
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