{"id":4208,"date":"2026-07-03T22:35:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T22:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4208"},"modified":"2026-07-03T22:35:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T22:35:03","slug":"tadej-pogacar-to-begin-drive-for-five-with-start-of-tour-de-france-on-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4208","title":{"rendered":"Tadej Poga\u010dar to begin drive for five with start of Tour de France on Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>PARIS \u2014 Tadej Poga\u010dar has never appeared stronger as he stands on the verge of joining the ranks of the Tour de France\u2019 s greatest champions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4206\">Egypt wins in World Cup knockout round debut in penalty shootout over Australia<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The two-time world champion has crushed his rivals this season, across all terrains. That\u2019s primed Poga\u010dar to chase a record-equaling fifth Tour victory starting Saturday in Barcelona.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The only four riders to have won five Tours are Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain, and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>American rider Lance Armstrong won seven Tours from 1999-2005 but was stripped of them for participating in a systemic doping program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Poga\u010dar\u2019s insatiable thirst for winning has drawn comparisons with Merckx, widely regarded as the greatest of all time. Some observers believe the 27-year-old from Slovenia could eventually surpass Merckx\u2019s records from the 1960s and \u201970s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Take this season, for instance: In only 16 race days he recorded 13 victories, including general classifications wins at the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie, as well as one-day triumphs at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour of Flanders, Milan San Remo, and Strade Bianche.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>His only setback came at Paris-Roubaix, where Belgian rider Wout van Aert prevented Poga\u010dar from completing the set of cycling\u2019s five Monuments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Poga\u010dar\u2019s latest outing, at the Tour de Suisse, was a masterclass in which he left only crumbs for his rivals. He finished 6 minutes, 32 seconds ahead of Ecuador rider Richard Carapaz.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe work has been done, I\u2019m really looking forward to the whole month in France,\u201d Poga\u010dar says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader is not only the strongest rider, he can also rely on talented and experienced teammates. Poga\u010dar is supported in his quest by 2025 Giro d\u2019Italia runner-up Isaac del Toro \u2014 a key asset in the mountains \u2014 Felix Gro\u00dfschartner, Brandon McNulty, Nils Politt, Florian Vermeersch, Tim Wellens, and Adam Yates, who finished third on the 2023 Tour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI know I\u2019ll have a fantastic group of teammates,\u201d Poga\u010dar says. \u201cWe have a lot of confidence in each other and have built up a lot of experience together over the years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Even though Poga\u010dar is in a class of his own, cycling is a brutal sport in which a crash or a moment of fatigue can shatter a rider\u2019s hopes in an instant. Perfectly aware that fortunes can change in the blink of an eye, his rivals will line up with their morale high.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Like in every summer for the past five years, Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike should be Poga\u010dar\u2019s main rival. They have split Tour victories since 2020, with Vingegaard taking home the yellow jersey in 2022 and \u201923.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4204\">Caitlin Clark voted to start third straight WNBA All-Star Game, joined by two Fever teammates<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The Danish rider is aiming to complete the men\u2019s Giro-Tour double. When he won the Giro in May, Vingegaard became the eighth male rider to win all three Grand Tours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThat gave me a tremendous amount of confidence heading into the Tour de France,\u201d he says. \u201cA third Tour victory would be a dream come true. It has been three years since I last won the Tour and ever since then it has remained one of my biggest goals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Despite van Aert\u2019s absence because of an elbow injury, Vingegaard can count on a strong group of domestiques including top American climbers Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss, as well as highly rated Tour debutants Per Strand Hagenes and Davide Piganzoli.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Among others hoping to dethrone Poga\u010dar, Remco Evenepoe,l and Florian Lipowitz \u2014 third last year \u2014 will share the leadership at Red Bull\u2013BORA\u2013hansgrohe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>France will have its eyes fixed on a rider making his Tour debut with the ambition of winning it one day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At 19, Paul Seixas will become one of the youngest riders ever to take part in cycling\u2019s showpiece race. He\u2019s widely regarded as France\u2019s best hope of a first champion since Hinault in 1985. But the CMA CGM Decathlon team leader has been downplaying his hopes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Seixas crashed recently at the Tour Auvergne\u2013Rhone-Alpes, though he says he\u2019s recovered well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI feel ready to give everything to get through these three weeks and achieve the best possible overall result,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not setting a more specific goal because I\u2019m heading into the unknown, since I\u2019ve never competed in a race this long and demanding before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The last rider to win the Tour on debut? Poga\u010dar in 2020, at age 21.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The 113th Tour will be launched in a team time trial. After leaving Spain, the peloton will enter the Pyrenees on just the third day. Covering more than 2,050 miles altogether, the race visits France\u2019s five mountain ranges \u2014 the Massif Central, Jura, Vosges, and the Alps are the others \u2014 and features eight mountain stages, including five summit finishes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Stages 19 and 20 culminate at the famed Alpe d\u2019Huez, which comes just 24 hours before the 21st and final stage ending on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe climb to Alpe d\u2019Huez will be revealing its two sides for the first time, making it very possible that the deck could be reshuffled over these two days,\u201d race director Christian Prudhomme says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The only individual time trial takes place against the backdrop of Lake Geneva on Stage 16 and, after its introduction last year was hugely successful, Montmartre will welcome the peloton during the grand finale July 26.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4202\">Serena Williams loses in opening round at Wimbledon in first singles match in four years<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two-time defending champion will be going for a record-equaling fifth overall victory starting Saturday in Barcelona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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