Contador won two Giros, two Tours and three Vueltas but never combined Giro-Tour. He tried, he failed. However, the now Eurosport commentator sees Pogacar as a serious candidate for the double.
Portuguese fans began to get used to associating the Tour of Italy with national riders on the list of something. In the list of the top 10 by stages, in the list of mountain stage winners (Rúben Guerreiro in 2020, João Almeida in 2023), even on the final podium of the race as happened last year with the Bota Lume that closed just three weeks ago by Primoz Roglic and Geraint Thomas. Now everything will be different. From the Portuguese perspective, with João Almeida focused on the Tour, Rúben Guerreiro leaving the Movistar list and Rui Costa recovering from a fractured right clavicle, there will only be one rider in the competition that starts this Saturday, Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates ). In global terms, with the “hangover” from the fall in the Tour of the Basque Country that took Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, the priorities and bets at this stage are different. Will the treadmill be expanded for Tadej Pogacar? For Alberto Contador, yes.
“For me this Giro will be about Pogacar. Of course, Ineos will go again with Geraint Thomas, who last year lost on the last day, in the time trial, against Primoz Roglic. They also have Thymen Arensman, let’s see how far he can go, but I don’t see them being able to beat Pogacar under normal conditions. Saying that he can win every stage is excessive but yes, he can win several stages. Now, we must always keep in mind that several sprint specialists will be at the Giro, for example, like Kaden Groves, Caleb Ewan, Fernando Gaviria, Fabio Jakobsen or Jonathan Miller, who is very strong…”, highlights the former Spanish rider, who won the Giro twice in 2008 and 2015 (plus two Tours and three Vuelta), in statements to Observador as a Eurosport commentator.
“We must take into account an important point: Pogacar will try for the double [Giro e Tour]. With this in mind, how interested can you be in fighting at all stages? In the end he wants to win the Giro, then he wants to fight for the Tour and, perhaps, if he wins the Tour de France, he also wants to participate in the Vuelta. Every effort you have to make or that you can save counts. We will see how he will face all these issues, but the truth is that Pogacar is a very aggressive runner, it is difficult for him to stop. Thinking about the medium and long term, perhaps it would be more interesting for you to save your strength for the Tour,” adds the 41-year-old former rider.
“To be successful in the Giro and the Tour, the first point is to try this goal a little younger and with this clear idea in mind. The first time I did this they told me at the last minute that I had to go to the Tour, not the ideal solution. In the second year I made the mistake of going high after the Giro and my body didn’t recover as well but I also had a problem in the Giro, which was the answer that the team couldn’t give and that left me alone. 40 or 50 kilometers from the finish line, which meant greater wear and tear. Pogacar has many good things. First of all, a calendar adapted to the Giro-Tour. So, a very powerful team. You don’t have to go crazy to make a difference, you just have to manage your strength well until the Tour. This Giro will not be as traditional as usual. There are several stages of 150 kilometers, the largest is 180 kilometers, except for those two at the end over 200… It seems to me that it will be a slightly less demanding race and that it will allow us to save energy. ”says Contador, who tried it twice in the Giro and the Tour, winning in Italy but finishing fifth in France.
More room for surprises in the top 5 overall? Definitely. Everyone agrees that there is a favorite, which is Pogacar, and that there is a close group where Geraint Thomas will be. Ben O’Connor is also doing well, which might be surprising because, unlike Thomas and Romain Bardet, he is not in the latter years of his career. Let’s also see what Arensman will do. The other big unknown is Nairo Quintana, who knows what it’s like to win the Giro but has been on the sidelines for a year. The Giro tends to be a race that discovers many people and now it will be like that again,” says Contador in relation to the final list of participants for the Tour of Italy.
And as for absences, to what extent could this decline in the Basque Country have a dent in the entire 2024 season? “The Olympic Games end up being secondary here because when we talk about Vingegaard, Roglic and Evenepoel we clearly think about the Tour. They are the three big favorites along with Pogacar. Regarding Roglic and Evenepoel he seemed to be one point above, the most complicated would be Vingegaard but let’s see under what conditions he returns to the competition because from that perspective That fall could be an important factor for the rest of the season and seeing what the Tour could be like.” highlighted.
Finally, could Rui Oliveira join the group of Portuguese winners in the Giro after fourth place in Zaragoza in the last Vuelta and a second place sprint in the Volta al Algarve? “He has great competition at the sprint level. You may be a very fast runner but it is not easy to be a favorite runner. It should also be taken into account that Emirates will think generally about Pogacar, while other teams will support players like Groves or Caleb Ewan. It will be difficult to win a stage in the Giro but, of course, you will always have chances, knowing that there are others who are more favorites not because they are faster but because they have their teams working for them,” explains the Eurosport commentator.
Source: Observadora
