109th Tour de France - Pogacar wants the hat-trick - Roglic counters with super team

By Tom Bachmann, dpa

Tadej Pogacar is once again the favourite to win the Tour de France. But there are far more riders among the favourites than the young Slovenian.

Tadej Pogacar:

Ralph Denk still had hope in winter. "I thought, let's see how he performs on cobblestones and in the wind. Maybe he's vulnerable there," the boss of the German team Bora-hansgrohe told dpa. Then the Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar almost won the Tour of Flanders and Denk realised that he could do that too. Pogacar has started in three tours so far this year and won all of them. The 23-year-old also won the Strade Bianche gravel road race as a soloist and was among the front runners at Milan-Sanremo and in Flanders. Pogacar can really only beat himself.

Primoz Roglic:

The former ski jumper has been chasing Tour victory for some time, sometimes landing roughly. In 2020, Pogacar drove his compatriot out of the yellow jersey on the penultimate stage. Last year, Roglic crashed early on, did not recover from his numerous wounds and gave up. The 32-year-old recently won the difficult Tour of the Dauphiné and has the strongest team. He will need it against Pogacar.

Jonas Vingegaard:

The Dane is the crown prince of Primoz Roglic's Jumbo-Visma team. When the star dropped out last year, Vingegaard was on hand. The 25-year-old not only finished second, but also briefly held off Tadej Pogacar with an attack on Mont Ventoux. No rider had ever managed that before. The start in his Danish homeland will inspire him, but at some point the team will have to decide between Roglic and Vingegaard.

Aleksandr Vlasov:

Ralph Denk immediately dispelled any doubts. "Alex is 100 per cent fit," said the Bora-hansgrohe boss about his captain. The 26-year-old recently had to leave the Tour de Suisse as the leader due to a positive corona test. With the Russian, the German Équipe now wants to reach the Tour podium for the first time, which they narrowly missed out on with Emanuel Buchmann's fourth place in 2019. Vlasov is riding an outstanding season, winning the Tour de Romandie, the Tour of Valencia and would almost certainly have won the Tour de Suisse as well. He lacks a bit of time trial strength, but few pros can follow him in the mountains.

Geraint Thomas:

The 2018 Tour winner knows how to win the biggest cycling spectacle in the world. And he hasn't been in such impressive form for a long time. With a victory at the Tour de Suisse - where other top riders had to drop out due to coronavirus - he is travelling as captain of the former dominant team Ineos-Grenadiers. However, Thomas has to set an example in the opening time trial in Copenhagen - for the competition and his own self-confidence.

Copyright 2022, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved