The battle in the Tour de France 2022 promises to be grandiose. On the one hand, the outgoing double winner Tadej Pogacar, insolent with ease since he tumbled like an airplane into the peloton. On the other, the Jumbo-Visma, a real army with its leaders Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard (Pogacar runners-up in 2020 and 2021), supported by Wout van Aert, Sepp Kuss and Steven Kruijswijk. What heavy.
“We can beat him”: Jumbo, armed with its two leaders Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, is able to bring down the outgoing double winner of the Tour de France Tadej Pogacar, assured Roglic on Wednesday two days before the big start from Copenhagen.
“We are a strong team with a lot of good individuals. As long as we work together and do the best we can, we think we can beat him,” said Primoz Roglic on Wednesday, two days before the big start from Copenhagen.
The Slovenian arrives confident, after his victory in early June at the Critérium du Dauphiné, where Pogacar was absent. His Dutch team took the first two places in this Tour de France preparation race with “Rogla” and Vingegaard. “Of course, I have more pressure. I am one of the leaders of the greatest race in the world, delivered the latter, who will run at home for the first three stages. But that doesn’t affect me. Obviously it makes a big difference to be two leaders instead of one. We hope we can challenge Pogacar.”
“Pogacar is the big favourite”
The Jumbo can rely on recent examples to hope to triumph. It was by playing several cards that the Sky team had won the Tour de France 2018, won by Geraint Thomas ahead of Chris Froome (3rd), then the Great Loop 2019, conquered by Egan Bernal, at the expense of Geraint Thomas (2nd) .
“Pogacar is the big favourite”, recognized the sporting director of Jumbo Grischa Niermann. The implacable 23-year-old Slovenian managed a raid in the first part of the season. Winner of the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico, in the stage races, the world number 1 also shone in the classics by crushing the Strade Bianche and signing two top-5s in monuments (5th in Milan-Sanremo then 4th in the Tour of Flanders). “Everyone needs to be at their best and we definitely need a two-leader strategy,” insisted Grischa Niermann.