For Bernard Hinault, the victory of Tadej Pogacar on the Tour de France hardly makes a doubt, his rivals being already “resigned”.
Tadej pogacar and the others. This is the scenario that many observers fear as the Tour de France approaches. Last year, the Slovenian finished more than six minutes ahead of his first pursuer, Jonas Vingaard, and had won no less than six stages victories and in view of his domination over the recent Critérium, a repetition is to be feared.
It is at least the feeling of Bernard Hinault, for whom his opponents already admit more or less defeated. “Today and especially after what we saw on the last runner-up, his direct opponents, Vingegaard and Remco, seem to be resigned to playing the other two places on the podium,” he said in an interview with the team.
“Sometimes that discourages you when you see them attacking thoroughly, while you are already at the limit,” said Remco Evenepoel, marked in the red iron by the domination of the Slovenian and its teammates in the mountains. “It seems that the high pace of the team members is a rhythm of training for them,” he added.
Bernard Hinault could therefore quickly see Tadej Pogacar equal his record of the five victories on the Tour, also shared with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Mercx and Miguel Indurain. “It is not very far from it. He is impressive because nothing seems to reach him, he said before he defends the criticism of which he is the target. I hear here or there that it is starting to be boring to see him win as much, but it is not his fault if the others do not try to shake him up from their pedestal. Remco did it well on the classics or when he is world champion. He attacked it and it worked. To others to reverse the trend. »»
However, if he does not exclude the emergence of a “new talent”, Bernard Hinault fears for Tadej Pogacar a certain wear and tear despite his still young age (26 years old). “He can also crack and undergo the backlash of his successes. He has absolute confidence in him and never shows the slightest sign of weariness, but staying at the top in this way does not make him invulnerable. We saw many others before being victims of burnout, “he said.
