Tadej Pogacar, in good form unlike several of his rivals, comes into Liège-Bastogne-Liège as favorite, where he expects “a good fight against Van der Poel” before devoting himself to his big challenge, conquering the Tour of Italy same year. and Tour de France. “My ambition is to win all these races. But I’m taking it step by step,” declared the Slovenian at a press conference on Friday in Bilzen, near Liège, two days before the Ardennes monument.
“Met Mathieu (van der Poel) it’s going to be a big game. But the race will be very open because it won’t be just the two of us. Mattias Skjelmose and Stevy (Stephen) Williams, among others, if they recover from the hell of La Flèche (Wallonne), that will also be formidable,” explained the manager of the UAE team.
In difficult conditions on Wednesday, Flèche Wallonne crowned Welshman Stephen Williams while Skjelmose, frozen by cold and rain, was among the 130 runners who left. Pogacar expressed his “admiration for those who drove in apocalyptic conditions” on Wednesday in Huy.
Van der Poel “in the form of his life”, he judges
“We won’t get the same weather on Sunday in Liège, although it will probably still be quite cold. This Friday it was freezing cold again during the reconnaissance. But that doesn’t scare me. I just came from a training course in Spain where I cycled in almost winter conditions. My body got used to these temperatures, he continued.
As for the scenario of the Doyenne of the classics, Pogacar had fun predicting “an attack with Mathieu 100 km from the line”, joking about the recent “titanic” performances of the Dutchman, the winner in the last weeks of the Tour of Flanders (attack 44 km from the line) and Paris-Roubaix (after a solitary raid of 60 km) and which “Pogi” judges “in the form of his life”.
“More seriously, I think that such a solitary effort is in the realm of the impossible in a race like Liège,” says the Slovenian, who won the Strade bianche at the start of the season by attacking more than 80km from his arrival. “He is the rider for big events. Although I probably climb better than him, I feel he is capable of winning on Sunday,” said Pogacar.
Pogacar also spoke about the rest of the season and his ambitions for victory in the Tours of Italy and France. The last double dates back to 1998, signed Marco Pantani. “I feel in good shape, but I’m only thinking about Liège at the moment. You have to take it step by step. My fall last year (he broke his wrist at the start of the race) reminds me that we can’t predict anything, he said, lamenting the many falls that left their mark, especially Remco Evenepoel or Jonas Vingegaard. the last few weeks.
“I wish Jonas and Remco the best”
“I want them to recover as quickly as possible. But I have learned from personal experience that it takes a long time to come back from an accident. Your body doesn’t recover as quickly as your head,” argued the double winner of the Grande Boucle (2020 and 2021). “We think everything is good, but it’s not that simple. The body has its limits. »
“Despite everything, I don’t consider myself the favorite for the Tour because the challenge that offers me is huge,” he continued as Belgium’s Evenepoel assured on Friday that he would be ready for the high fair in the month of July. The Slovenian also reiterated his ambition to win “all the great races on the calendar” having already put his name on the list of three monuments, Tour of Flanders (2023), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2021) and Tour de Lombardia (2021). 2022, 2023).
“Milan-San Remo is undoubtedly the most unpredictable and complicated monument to win. But I’m getting closer to victory after my 3rd place this spring, he said. – As for Paris-Roubaix, which is probably the race that suits me the least, I still intend to tackle it. But it’s not yet,” concluded the 25-year-old phenomenon.
Related Posts
Online Paris, it is urgent to regulate the aggressive advertising practices of operators
End of season with PSG, arrival at Real Madrid, preparation for Euro 2024… the very busy month ahead for Mbappé
