Our Giro man Renaat Schotte sees that Pogacar is not really “happy”: “He is not unapproachable in this Giro”

The difficult opening weekend in the Giro already provided a boot full of material to think about. Our man on site, Renaat Schotte, sampled the riders and found that the top favorite does not give a very happy impression. “Yesterday Pogacar was not amused, today he was still not really happy.”

“Yesterday, Jhonatan Narvaez stole the pink in front of Tadej Pogacar. That was a world achievement, because Narvaez had been out of action for 41 days after suffering a concussion in a fall in Ghent-Wevelgem.”

“Pogacar was not amused after yesterday’s stage. He was a little more approachable today, but not yet very happy.”

“He does everything on autopilot. Then the question is: does Pogacar also want to win this Tour of Italy on autopilot? That is of course not easy, because it is a race in 3 weeks and not a one-day race.”

“We saw today how quickly it happened: Pogacar had a puncture at the front and crashed, which was partly his own fault. Then he is lucky that he can immediately get back on the bike without any significant injury.”

“After that fall, Pogacar did a Pantani, although it was not comparable to Pantani’s broken chain on the same mountain (25 years ago). Pantani then passed 49 riders.”

“Pogacar did a better job: he passed an entire peloton today. In a different way of course. He was first paced by his teammates, who brought him back to the front of the peloton.”

“In terms of breadth, the UAE team is on track. But here and there questions are already being raised about its strength.”

“Yesterday Pogacar himself said that he was one man short of making a difference on the San Vito.”

“Today he could afford to be isolated more quickly on the final climb.”

“But after Majka passed the scepter just over 4 kilometers from the end, Pogacar still managed to drive away from the assembled competition.”

“At the moment of the attack you had the feeling that Pogacar would take a minute. He ran well, but at the finish the difference was only 27 seconds. That indicates a slightly slower final kilometer for Pogacar.”

“Is Pogacar untouchable in this Giro? Everyone says so. Everyone thinks he will now keep the pink jersey until Rome.”

“I say “no, he is not unapproachable”, because the race is still so long. Pogacar has that pink jersey now, but that will also cost him about an hour of time at the finish every day (podium ceremony and interviews).”

“That’s an hour less recovery, sometimes it’s even an hour and a half. You carry that with you on such a big tour.”

“Then Pogacar may still be the superman he is, but he is only human.”

“Due to the special dynamics of this Giro, with an uphill finish on day 2, we will certainly see surprises in the final week and riders who fail.”

“Cian Uijtdebroeks’ Giro debut was absolutely positive, with the white jersey as a reward. That’s great, also because of the way it was done. On the final climb, Uijtdebroeks took the initiative with the pursuers.”

“If, like O’Connor, you try to follow Pogacar first, you run a risk. O’Connor eventually crossed the line cursing loudly.”

“Behind Pogacar, Geraint Thomas (2nd) and Daniel Felipe Martinez (3rd) immediately emerged as the top candidates for places 2 and 3.”

“They have more experience than Cian Uijtdebroeks. But our compatriot is a nice 4th in the same time as Einer Rubio (5th).”

“Is Lorenzo Fortunato (6th) a stayer in the top 5? That could be.”

“Juan Pedro López (7th- of course rode a fantastic Tour of The Alps and there is always one from that race who holds out in 3 weeks of Giro. That could be Lopez this year.”

“Jan Hirt (8th) is the type of rider who can easily finish in the top 10 here. Esteban Chaves (9th) has previously finished on the podium of a big tour.”

“Places 2 to 12 are the men who are currently eligible for the podium. As the Giro progresses, we will remove names.”

“So you have 11 candidates for the 2 other podium spots and 1 rider who stands head and shoulders above the rest.”

“The end of the Giro will then provide the conclusion whether it is head and shoulders, with flying colors or with a kind of reserve with the Tour in mind.”