Pogacar not only wins the Giro, but also has the power to make it fail

The Slovenian champion is cannibalizing the Giro. If he doesn't win, he pulls his teammates. Controversy over the track designed especially for him

ROME – Tadej Pogacar has already won three stages of the Giro d’Italia, two in the mountains and one in a time trial. At a certain point, on the seafront in Naples, he started pulling the group, acting as a wingman for his companions, in the last 700 meters of the stage. He wanted Molano to win. The Colombian then finished third. The point is that Pogacar “is building the foundations to achieve the great goal of becoming a cycling legend, they write in Germany. “If someone is a legend, others decide”, he answers from Naples.

Meanwhile, the Giro is at his feet, amidst some controversy. Because they set up a defused path for him, with the rather explicit aim of taking him fresh to the Tour for a double that Pantani hasn’t managed since 1998. Only he doesn’t hold back, he wants to win everything. He always pushes, puts on a show for himself and his teammates. Not only does he want to win the Giro, but now also has the power to make it fail. A bit like Sorrentino’s Jep Gambardella with the parties.

His managers sometimes don’t know whether to be happy or hold their breath– writes the Faz- Because Pogacar squanders his powers too much, something that potential Tour winners usually don’t do. “But you can’t stop him. He is who he is. When he runs, he wants to win them all,”, says UAE sports director Matxin Fernandez.

He is not afraid of getting involved in breakaway groups, he pulls teammates in the mountains, and he has a real killer instinct. In the spring Pogacar did a few races, most of them victories, and a lot of training at altitude. A job that should pay off especially at the end of the second and third week of the Giro, when legendary climbs such as the Mortirolo will be tackled.

At last year’s Tour he started very strong but “was then literally destroyed by the collective effort of Team Jumbo-Visma. The competition at the Giro doesn’t seem to be able to do anything similar. There is no opponent of his level, at the Tour there is it was the Danish Jonas Vingegaard. And then in Italy“there are 11,000 meters less difference in altitude, therefore 11,000 meters less suffering. This is what motivated us to tackle the double this year”, said his team director Gianetti.