The place to watch the Tour de France - LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE - plus the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is right here on SBS. Replays, mini stage recaps, highlights and live streaming can be found on the and the available for download on and .
Pogacar revealed he was “not 100 per cent sure of his condition” during his final pre-race press conference on Friday (AEST), having suffered a fractured wrist at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April.
Vingegaard refused to be drawn on the Slovenian’s status, however, before suggesting the attacks could come as early as Stage 1 in Bilbao this weekend.
“I would expect him to attack, a bit like last year,” Vingegaard said.
“I just have to be ready for it and we just have to also do our best and see what we can do.”
Fresh off his first Tour de France title, won last year by 2’43”, Vingegaard has been named the main favourite by Pogacar who was somewhat surprisingly named co-captain of UAE Team Emirates alongside Adam Yates.
It’s a tag Vingegaard was paying little attention to amid his own preparation, with Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert of the opinion “mind games” were at play.
“It depends on who is in the best shape in the end,” Vingegaard explained. “I don’t think it matters to say who is the big favourite – I can also say that he is the big favourite.
“I only think about myself and preparing myself as good as possible. I think about what I can do to improve. In the last two months, I’ve only been thinking about the training and being fully optimal for the Tour de France.”
“It [the race] only changes if Yates shows that he’s on the level of the other two,” van Aert added. “In that case, he’d be another competitor.
“If he’s not as good, then it doesn’t show anything. I think it’s a mind game, like your colleague said.”
Vingegaard will line up in Spain for the opening three stages before the race shifts back to France, where the 26-year-old preceded his training camp with a commanding victory at the Criterium du Dauphine.
As expected, the Dane offered little information in the way of stage tactics or expectations, but confirmed he was happy with his form and progress ahead of the biggest race on the cycling calendar.
“I think actually it’s hard to tell which is the most difficult because there are a lot of super hard stages,” Vingegaard said.
“In general, there are a lot of mountains and climbing. I think especially the second and third week will be super, super hard and decisive.
“I had a good period after the Dauphine. We went on another training camp, and I had a good camp with the team.
“I feel ready, my shape is good, and I am where I want to be. We’ll have to see in three weeks whether it’s enough.”
