Tour de France 2024: Tadej Pogacar 'really excited' to return to Italy for Grand Depart after Giro d'Italia triumph
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Updated 25/06/2024 at 11:08 GMT
Tadej Pogacar is excited to return to the site of his 2024 Giro d'Italia win for the Grand Depart of this summer's Tour de France, after being named in the UAE Team Emirates squad. Pogacar is on the hunt for his third title at his fifth Tour de France, and will be assisted by Britain's Adam Yates, who finished fourth in 2016. The Tour gets underway on the June 29, live on Eurosport and discovery+.
Pogacar lifts Endless Trophy in Giro d'Italia celebrations
Tadej Pogacar is delighted to be returning to the site of his 2024 Giro d'Italia triumph to kick off this summer's Tour de France.
The Grand Depart will be held in Italy for the first time ever this year, marking the 100th anniversary of Ottavio Bottecchia becoming the first Italian to win the Tour.
UAE Team Emirates have announced an incredibly strong team for the 21 stages, with Great Britain's Adam Yates among the names set to support the Slovenian.
Pogacar can't wait to take part in his fifth Tour de France - live on Eurosport and discovery+ - this summer.
"It’s already my fifth time coming to the Tour and I’m really excited about it," he said.
"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.
"It’s nice also to be going back to Italy again to start the Tour. Obviously I’m coming from there with good memories of the Giro and thankfully I can say that preparation has gone very well since then.
Pogacar already has two Tour de France titles to his name, and he also won the Giro d'Italia at the first time of asking ahead of Daniel Martinez and Britain's Geraint Thomas earlier this year.
Spain's Juan Ayuso and Marc Soler are included in UAE Team Emirates, too, as are France's Pavel Sivakov and Germany's Nils Politt.
Portugal's Joao Almeida and Belgium's Tim Wellens make up the talented pool of riders, and Pogacar believes the group are in a good place ahead of the Tour.
"I took a bit of a break after Giro and then the past weeks have been fully focused on the Tour," he said.
"We’ve spent a lot of time together as a group training at altitude and put in a lot of hours in the saddle.
"We’re in a really good place as a group and I think now we just can’t wait to get started and hope to fight for the win and put on a good show."
Yates finished fourth at the 2016 Tour de France and believes the team know what they need to do to help Pogacar get over the line.
"I think as a group we’re in a really good place and know what we have to do to support Tadej," Yates added.
"We’re aiming for the win and we know if things go our way it’s possible so it’s just a matter of staying focused and pulling together all the way to Nice."
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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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