FILE - Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the pink jersey of the race overall leader, indicates five, the numbers of Giro’ stages he has won so far, as he crosses the finish line to win the 16th stage of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, from Livigno to Santa Cristina Val Gardena , Italy, Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
He has not raced competitively since that crash but will be immediately put to the test this weekend with an opening stage that takes riders through a series of tricky hills and climbs that could set the scene for an early battle between the top contenders.Pogacar all but wins Giro d’Italia on debut with another stunning stage victoryBefore the crash, Vingegaard was among the Tour favorites after dominating the race the past two years.
”It’s already my fifth time coming to the Tour and I’m really excited about it,” said Pogacar, whose Tour preparations last year were hampered by a crash that left him with a broken wrist. “We’ve worked really hard all year as a team to prepare for this and we hope we can give everyone watching three weeks of exciting racing.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time together as a group training at altitude and put in a lot of hours in the saddle,” Pogacar said. “We’re in a really good place as a group. We just can’t wait to get started and hope to fight for the win.”