With a brief video on his social media accounts, the Giro d'Italia confirmed the rumors that have been circulating about Tadej Pogacar for a few months. The Slovenian will race the Giro d'Italia and will try to achieve the coveted Giro, Tour double that no cyclist has been able to achieve since Marco Pantani did it in 1998.
Giro and Tour, main objectives of Tadej Pogacar in 2024
The Giro d'Italia 2024 continues to attract cyclists. Having a less mountainous route than usual for the Corsa Rosa and the relevance that the time trial will have in the development of the race has meant that several cyclists have set their sights on the Italian race.
The first to announce his presence in this Giro d'Italia 2024 was Wout van Aert a few weeks ago, although it is a mystery with what philosophy he will approach the race. For years there has been speculation that the Belgian could try to assault a general classification of a grand tour, but we must not forget that he is a cyclist with a more classic profile and, despite being a great climber, the pace of the big bosses on the peaks of a race of this type is different from that of a breakaway or working for his team.
Now, it is the Giro d'Italia itself, with a charming video in which the Slovenian travels to this country, who confirms the presence of Tadej Pogacar, suddenly becoming the favorite to win the maglia rosa on May 26 in the streets of Rome. A race in which the UAE Team Emirates cyclist debuts although, given his good performance on Italian roads, having won the last 3 editions of Il Lombardia, there is no doubt that his performance will surely be good.
A less tough Giro d'Italia also suits Tadej Pogacar as this race will be the prelude to the Tour de France where he will have to face his nemesis of the last two years, Jonas Vingegaard, if he intends to achieve his third yellow jersey as well as achieving a double that no one has been able to achieve since 1998. On that occasion it was the great Marco Pantani who achieved a feat that, in addition to the Italian, only Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil and Fausto Coppi have in their record.
From the Tour de France, Pogacar will almost immediately link up with the Paris Olympic Games to take a short break and face the preparation for another of his main objectives of the year, the tough Road World Championship that will be held in Zurich.
What has not been revealed is the route that will lead Pogacar to the start of the Giro d'Italia. It is likely that his classics season will be much less intense than the one faced in these last two years and, if we stick to the usual calendar of the vueltómanos who go to the Corsa Rosa, it is likely that we will see him in races like Paris-Nice and Itzulia, finishing off the form in the Ardennes classics, although this already enters the field of conjecture until the UAE Team Emirates definitively confirms Tadej Pogacar's calendar for this 2024.
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