PARIS — Slovenian Tadej Pogacar said that his current form feels “good enough” to carry him to a rare cycling double as he chases victory in the Italian race and the Tour de France in July.
Pogacar underlined his climbing credentials in the Italian Alps when the Giro d’Italia leader won stage 15, the longest and arguably toughest of the race which involved an altitude gain of 5,400 metres. “Let’s get through this Giro first,” the UAE Team Emirates rider said according to AFP.
“I have a strong lead and a strong team, now I need to conserve energy, good pacing and good weather will help,” he added.
Pogacar explained that conventional wisdom suggests that because the two 21-day races are so close together, a rider must go into the Tour de France fresh.
“With my lead as it is, I can race more conservatively in the final week. They all say you need to have good legs coming out of the Giro, and I feel good enough right now.”
On the 222 km ride from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Pogacar attacked on the climb with a 14 km solo ride to chase down the breakaway riders and leader Nairo Quintana, overtaking the Colombian with 1.9 km to go on the Mottolino ascent.
Pogacar then dropped Quintana, a Giro d’Italia winner in 2014 who he had watched race as a child, and the 25-year-old Slovenian raced to the summit, leaving the chasing pack far behind to almost double his overall lead with one week to go.
“It was one of the best days for me… it was a really nice stage, really good route with nice climbs. The team did a good job. We had this stage in mind since December,” Pogacar said according to Reuters.
“I’m super happy that we kept it under control. It was a really strong breakaway but I gave it all in the last 10-15 km. I’m super happy I could win a Queen Stage in Livigno, one of my favourite places in Italy.
“I used to watch Quintana and (Chris) Froome attacking each other but always too close to the finish. I was always angry that he (Quintana) wouldn’t attack from distance but today he did a good job.”
Described last season by Merckx as being cycling’s most complete rider, Pogacar appears to be on flying form in terms of morale as he looks to make history and even shared some teenage memories of the same ski resort where he achieved landmark crushing win at 2350m altitude.
“I feel great, this is one of my favourite places. We were here with the Slovenian team when I was junior, when we had little money and rented an old house all together and went to the cheap supermarket in the van, just fantastic memories,” Pogacar said.
The victory was Pogacar’s fourth stage win and he crossed the line with no rider in sight while his closest rivals Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) finished fifth and sixth, two minutes and 51 seconds behind.
Pogacar, a twice winner of the Tour de France, has now established a lead of six minutes and 41 seconds over Thomas while Martinez is a further 15 seconds behind.
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