Jumbo-Visma still expect Tadej Pogačar to threaten at Tour de France

You can’t count him out – that’s the message stemming from inside the Jumbo-Visma camp after Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) confirmed that he would race the Giro d’Italia before embarking on the Tour de France next July.

No rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 has won the double inside of the men’s sport but Pogačar is hoping to flip the script by winning the Giro on his debut and then wresting Jumbo's Jonas Vingegaard for a third Tour title. The Grand Tour rivals have both won two Tours each with the Dane beating the Slovenian in their last two encounters.

“You’ll have to ask me in one year if Pogačar at the Giro is good for us or not,” Jumbo-Visma's lead sports director, Merijn Zeeman told GCN on Monday.

“It’s very difficult to say because we all know that he’s a quality rider, and many say that he’s the best rider in the world. He makes the races super attractive, so for the fans to have a rider like him in the Giro, makes it very special. It makes it a nice challenge for us and for other teams to see if we can beat him. For cycling in general, the fact that he’s in the Giro and Tour makes the races more complete and interesting.”

The consensus is that the Giro d’Italia will rob Pogačar of his top form ahead of July. Regardless of where he finishes in Italy, the UAE Team Emirates rider will face three weeks of full-on racing, variable weather and any number of episodes of misfortune that can strike during a Grand Tour.

Zeeman, however, pointed to the example of one of his riders as proof that both the Giro and Tour could be tackled in the same year, and at a high level.

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Pogačar will be attempting to do a version of what Sepp Kuss did in 2023: win the second race of Grand Tour back-to-back

“This year I was worried about Sepp Kuss. When Wilco Kelderman was injured and couldn’t do the Giro we needed a super strong replacement to help Primož Roglič and I decided to bring Sepp. Then I was worried about Sepp’s level at the Tour but then I noticed that if you do it right then you can be on a very high level at both the Giro and the Tour.

"For me, Sepp is the proof that you can do both at a high level and that’s why I believe Pogačar can do both. With such a super-talented rider, and such a smart performance team, they can do that.”

According to Zeeman the UAE Team Emirates rider is still in the conversation for the yellow jersey and Jumbo-Visma, despite their complete dominance of the Grand Tours in 2023, will not take anything for granted. They underestimated him once back in 2020 when Pogačar broke Primož Roglič’s heart in the final time trial to take yellow, and since then they’ve given their main rival nothing but the utmost respect.

“He’s together with Primož and Remco Evenepoel,” Zeeman said when listing out Vingegaard’s rivals. “Normally Pogačar is the biggest rival but we also think that Primož and Remco will be very, very strong opponents.”

It has been suggested that Pogačar’s decision to target the Giro is an admission that he cannot beat Vingegaard over three weeks. The pair were close in 2023 before the Dane demolished his main rival in the final week.

“No, it doesn’t tell me that. I don’t think so,” Zeeman said. “What I expect is that they talked a lot with him on the team, and with his performance coaches, they discussed everything with the question over whether it was possible to be at a high level in both races. But what I also know, and he said it multiple times, is that he really likes Italian races. The whole race and the atmosphere. I’m not surprised that he wanted to do it.”

Jumbo-Visma will announce their Grand Tour plans on December 21 at a presentation in the Netherlands. It’s not confirmed where Vinegaard will race ahead of the Tour, but Zeeman categorically ruled out the Dane from facing Pogačar at the Giro.

“I can confirm he’s not doing the Giro. I think he’s said in an interview that he’d like to do all three Grand Tours in one year. I’m not sure if he knows what he’s saying but next year he will not be in the Giro.”