Tour de France 2024: Alberto Contador's podium prediction - Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard are 'strong favourites'
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ByOli Gent
Published 26/06/2024 at 11:30 GMT
Alberto Contador believes that the tussle to be crowned the winner of the Tour de France 2024 will be between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. The Spaniard labelled the pair the "two strong favourites" going into road cycling's biggest event of the year, while he also believes that Primoz Roglic has enough to make it onto the podium ahead of Remco Evenepoel, who is making his Tour debut.
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Eurosport expert Alberto Contador has revealed his predictions for the upcoming Tour de France, believing it will be between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard for the title.
The hotly-anticipated Tour, live on Eurosport and discovery+, has been labelled as a four-way fight between Pogacar, Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel at the top of the general classification.
Contador believes that Pogacar and Vingegaard are just that level above the latter pair at this stage. Pogacar is a two-time tour winner, in 2020 and 2021, while Vingegaard pipped the Slovenian to the 2022 and 2023 titles.
Pogacar, the UAE Team Emirates rider, is in hot form this year having won the Giro d'Italia by a landslide earlier in June.
Vingegaard, the 27-year-old Dane, sustained a collapsed lung and broken collarbone back in April at the Tour of the Basque Country, which ruled him out of the Giro. However, the Team Visma-Lease a Bike rider is back to defend his yellow jersey.
"I can see a battle where there are two strong favourites – Pogacar and Vingegaard - based on what they have done on the Tour over the last four years," Contador explained.
"Then there is Roglic and Remco. Will those two be important and can they win the Tour? Yes. But would I put them on a slightly lower step? Yes.
"I would say the big battle will be between Pogacar and Vingegaard but with the utmost respect to Roglic and Remco, due to what they have done over the last 4 years, I think Pogacar and Vingegaard deserve that respect.”
Contador, himself a two-time Tour champion, could not split Pogacar and Vingegaard when picking a winner.
"That is complicated," the Spaniard continued. "I would put Vingegaard and Tadej on the podium. In what order? That is complicated. Why? Because we don’t know what form Vingegaard will be in.
"We know he will be on the start line, but we don’t know what form he will be in or what percentage of his top form he will be able to reach.
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"If he is on the start line of the Tour I think it is because he feels that he has a chance to win. So I think I would put them as equals for the top spot on the podium. Tadej has an incredible team with him, but so does Vingegaard, even with the loss of Sepp Kuss."
To complete his podium, Contador placed Roglic, the UCI WorldTeam Bora–Hansgrohe rider, and Pogacar's Slovenian compatriot.
"The rider I would place in third place on the podium would be Primoz Roglic," Contador said. "He has won the Vuelta three times, he knows what it is to finish second on the Tour de France and he is a very consistent rider on grand tours."
The big talking point of the Tour will be Vingegaard's fitness, and whether he can keep up the frightening pace that Pogacar will look to set at the front, but Contador shrugged off any suggestion that the Dane would struggle.
"Not only do I think he will survive, I think he will get better as the Tour progresses," Contador said.
"We say that you can’t go to a cycling race to train, and most riders can’t – especially on the Tour de France. But a rider with the quality of Pogacar or Vingegaard can afford to be defensive at the beginning and get through the stages. And then as the days go by, go for more. So I don’t think it will be an obstacle.
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"Taking into account that they will go up a climb as hard as the Galibier so early on the Tour, UAE could try and really push the matter to the maximum from day one, to see whether Vingegaard buckles or not. That could be one of the tactics from UAE."
Such was Pogacar's remarkable lead and attacking intent at the recent Giro d'Italia, there are also question marks over whether the Slovenian has burned himself out too soon before the Tour, but again, Contador is confident in the 25-year-old's abilities.
"[I am] not at all [concerned for him]," Contador added. "Tadej has more than enough power in his legs to take on this Tour with guarantees despite having done the Giro d’Italia.
"Although it looked like he was going all out, I think he even saved himself at times. He had a team that protected him well, he will have a team that protects him well on the Tour. I don’t think it will be a problem for him."
Eurosport and discovery+ is the streaming home of the Tour de France this summer, with live coverage running June 29 to July 21.
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