Tadej Pogačar has confirmed he will have an incredibly powerful team to take on Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, with Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso, João Almeida all riding as super domestiques for the Slovenian. All three could be team leaders in rival teams but will ride for Pogačar in July as he targets a historic Giro-Tour double.
UAE Team Emirates have still to confirm their final eight riders but Pogačar revealed who is expected to line-up in Florence on June 29 for the Grand Depart.
Marc Soler, Pavel Sivakov, Tim Wellens and Nils Politt are also part of the line-up but there is apparently no place for the USA's Brandon McNulty, who is focussed on the Olympics after making the USA selection for the individual time trial, or Rafał Majka, who rode alongside Pogačar as he won the Giro d'Italia.
The UAE Team Emirates Tour de France line-up has been widely expected but stands out due to the strength of the squad. They are likely to try to dominate the racing, especially in the mountains.
"We have a full star team," Pogačar said while speaking to Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe during an episode of their Watts Occuring podcast.
"Yates will be my right hand man. Then Ayuso and Almeida are super-climbing domestiques. Then Soler and Sivakov will be the bigger climbers that can still maybe do something on the flat. Then Nils Pollitt and Tim Wellens too. Majka will stay at home, I think he's quite sad about this."
Adam Yates crashed out of the UAE Tour and suffered a concussion but raced the Giro d'Abruzzo and then the Tour de Romandie. He was third overall in the 2023 Tour de France. Ayuso finished second to Vinggaard at Tirreno-Adriatico and won Itzulia Basque Country after the major crash took out the Dane, Evenepoel and Roglič.
"That is a hit squad," Thomas said in awe.
"It is, it is. And it scares me too," Pogačar joked.
Pogačar headed to altitude at Isola 2000 in the French Alps on Tuesday after a week of rest and recovery following his Giro d'Italia victory in Rome. He will stay at altitude for almost three weeks, training and carrying out some final Tour de France reconnaissance rides with his teammates.
He admitted that he was tempted to dye his hair pink after winning the Giro d'Italia but opted for a quiet week at home in Monaco with his fiance Urška Žigart after three weeks of intense racing.
The Slovenian won six stages as he dominated the Giro d'Italia, beating Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tjomas by ten minutes. Thomas admitted during the podcast that he was still fatigued but Pogačar said his level of fatigue was "maybe 6 or 7 out of 10."
"Mentally I'm better, physically I'm a little destroyed but it evens out a little bit," he said.
Pogačar and Thomas both expect Vingegaard to ride the Tour de France even if Visma-Lease a Bike have still to confirm his presence. The two-time Tour winner is expected to be part of a four rider big-name battle at the Tour with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe). Vingegaard is already training at altitude in the French Alps but Visma-Lease a Bike have insisted he will only ride the Tour if he is 100% ready.
"For me, yes, he'll be at the start," Pogačar said, reiterating comments he made during the Giro.
"I think he was riding the bike quite soon after leaving the hospital so if he's comfortable already riding on the bike back then he can be in good shape.
"The thing most people are saying is that it depends if he can reach race weight, but I don't think it will be a problem."
Thomas agreed.
"If he's fine to push himself in training then I think he can still be really good."
Evenepoel and Roglič have recovered from their crash injuries and Pogacsr expects them to fight for victory, if following different race strategies.
"The motivation for Remco and Roglič is super super high, I think they have good reasons to be more than 100% this year," Pogačar said.
"It is nice to see Remco in the Tour finally. When he was world champion, I told him: 'You need to do the Tour,' but he didn't do it."
"I think Remco will have the motivation to attack early in the Tour. I think Primož will just look at everybody and then he will be flying in the last days."
The Tour de France gets underway in Florence, Italy on Saturday 29 June and ends on Sunday July 21, with a hilly time trial to Nice.
