“He is so impressive!” exclaims Christian Guiberteau (Cofidis).
"If he has small weaknesses, it doesn't really show. At one point, you could have said the team around him was a little less efficient in the mountains than the others. But the team has grown stronger" with the arrivals of the New Zealander George Bennett, recruited in the rival formation Jumbo, and the Spaniard Marc Soler.
Julien Jurdie (AG2R Citroën) evokes the same reservation.
For him too, the team organized around Pogacar represents the possible flaw in the armor.
"At certain times of the race, we feel that the UAE do not necessarily have the best collective, especially in the mountains. We will have to see anyway", tempers the technician from Saint-Etienne about a group which has the Pole in its ranks. Rafal Majka, an experienced rider (32 years old) twice winner of the GP de la Montagne in the Tour de France before joining Pogacar last year.
"It's very complicated to find a fault in Pogacar", admits Jurdie who evokes, without believing it too much, "a certain weariness of always winning".
"When you're too strong, you can suddenly make small mistakes," he says, before listing the risks inherent in a three-week race, "illness, falls, everything you don't want. not".
The yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar surrounded by his UAE teammates on the way to the Champs-Elysées after winning the Tour de France, July 18, 2021 Thomas SAMSON AFP / Archives
"The teams are in their patterns"
"The problem with Pogacar's opponents is that he is talented everywhere", recognizes Thierry Bricaud (Groupama-FDJ), on the same line as his two colleagues.
"He knows how to ride fast, he knows how to climb, he knows how to sprint, he's a real courier. He's skilful on the bike, he knows how to do everything".
Bricaud, however, also points to the playful character of the young Slovenian (23 years old): "He has phases where he can tend to get a little inflamed. He takes a lot of fun on a bike and from time to time he unpins a bit far because he probably feels sure of himself. It's in his state of mind but, over three weeks, it can play tricks on him."
Will the race be unbridled and therefore conducive to the isolation of Pogacar?
"That's how he can get trapped by being isolated 50 miles from the finish and finding himself with other leaders. These are situations where he can be destabilized but there are none. a lot on a Tour", estimates Bricaud who cites the example of the Tour of the Basque Country 2021, the last "defeat" of Pogacar in a stage race (3rd).
The yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar during the last stage of the Tour de France on the Champs-Elysées, July 18, 2021 Thomas SAMSON AFP / Archives
"The teams are in their plans," confirms Guiberteau.
"There is never a risk strategy, they think it is best to run this way to protect their leaders, everyone is afraid of losing everything".
Especially in the event of a yellow jersey well hung on the shoulders of its owner despite the traps scattered on the course.
"Pogacar does cyclo-cross in the winter, he is skilful, he is one with his bicycle, the cobblestone stage will not be a problem for him", predicts Jurdie.
In fact, summarizes Guiberteau, "in a match one against one, he is impregnable".
© 2022 AFP