EMAJONES IN THE AVITUALLATION AREA, CROSSED REPROChes and Strategies that irritate the UAE leader agitate the race.
Photo: EFE – MARTIN DIVISEK
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The UAE team of Tadej Pogacar and the vism of Jonas Vingegaard, immersed in a globally healthy rivalry, also maintain daily tensions in the Tour de France, which sometimes make sparks jump.
In front of the cameras, the two great favorites to the final victory in the Tour, where the last five titles have been distributed, never forget their hand and show mutual respect, despite their opposite characters.
Vingegaard even states that his career would not have the same flavor without this rivalry with the Slovenian.
“I have a lot of respect for Jonas,” Pogacar said when there were two days left for the start in Lille of the 112nd edition.
But between scenes, the tension between the UAE and the visma is very noticeable.
The last episode of this soap opera has Pogacar, dressed in the yellow leader of the leader, raising the tone on Saturday at the exit of the eighth stage in Saint-Méen-Le-Grand and echoing an incident of the eve, when the Slovenian slightly pushed Matteo Jorgenson, a lieutenant of Vingegaard, in the area of supplies.
Little anger
“I clearly indicated my intention to go for a bidon from our person responsible for it, located twenty meters after the vism manager. But they (the vism corridors) decided to advance on the right and I had no choice but to push him a little if he wanted to reach that drum,” explained the world champion.
“They always do that, advance yourself to the provisioning zone as if they were the only ones to have drums. You have to know how to be patient and respect others,” he added.
In the previous days, the Slovenian had shared his irritation towards the Dutch team, who in his opinion had done everything possible in the sixth stage to leave him the burden of the yellow jersey, with the protocol obligations and before the press he entails, raising the pressure on Mathieu van der Poel – then leading – in the final section.
“They wanted to do that, I don't know very well why,” Pogacar criticized.
“Pogacar can think what you want. We have our right to have our strategy and they yours. You may not always understand what the other team does, but this is cycling,” Vingegaard replied to Danish television.
“Our plan? Better if Pogacar has not understood,” added its sports director, Grischa Niermann.
“Rivals until the last kilometer”
Another friction took place on Thursday, when Tim Wellens, Pogacar teammate, preferred to take the Belgian champion jersey, as authorized by the regulation, before lunar (mountain), which for one day went to Vingegaard.
This generated problems for the team visma because the name of a sports betting company appears in the lunar jersey, something that prohibits the Dutch law.
Visma solved him by putting black adhesive tape on the name of that sponsor.
The UAE-Visma and Pogacar-Vingegaard pulse has marked the last editions of the Tour.
A year ago, Pogacar launched a sound “Fuck You” (Jódete) to Vingegaard, who had refused to collaborate with him during a common getaway with Remco Evenepoel in one of the stages of the Tour.
“It was not very pleasant. In the fire of the action you sometimes say things that one laments later. It is something that constantly occurs in the platoon,” Pogacar explained just before this tour.
“We respect them. In the race we are adversaries until the last kilometer, but after the goal we have good relations,” said Joxean Fernández “Matxín”, sports director of Pogacar.
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