Tadej Pogačar headed home from the Tour de Suisse with yet another stage race victory on his palmarès and confirmation that he is stronger than ever and on track to challenge for a fifth Tour de France victory.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader won three of the five stages at the new-format Tour de Suisse, dominating in the mountains and winning the time trial ahead of a resurgent Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech). He finished 6:32 ahead of his nearest GC challenger, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost).
Pogačar headed home to Monaco to spend time with his partner Urška Žigart after her serious crash in the women's Tour de Suisse. He could spend a few days with his teammates at altitude in Isola 2000 and then travel to Barcelona early next week for the Tour de France Grand Départ. Pogačar already seems close to his best-ever form.
"There's not much to add," Pogačar told CyclingProNet and other media after winning Sunday's stage and the overall GC at the Tour de Suisse.
"It's just 10 days or almost two weeks to go, so there's not much you can do before that, maybe some small, specific trainings, but the shape must be ready.
"It was a goal, a wish that I've had on my list for a very long time. I'm really happy that we succeeded with the guys here. And it also gives me a lot of confidence for the Tour."
Pogačar did not race between winning the Tour de Romandie in early May and the Tour de Suisse. However, he trained hard at altitude in Sierra Nevada, with test results giving him confidence for the Tour de France.
"We did super good trainings. We had a lot of time out of home with the teammates. A lot of work has been done, so I'm happy" Pogačar told L'Equipe.
"During the training camp, there’s a climb I tested last year. I set a really good time on it. I thought to myself: 'Wow, I’ll never be able to go faster than that.' And this year, just for fun, I said: 'Okay, at the end of the camp, I’ll go back there.' And I was significantly faster this year. So yes, from a training perspective, I’d say I’m stronger."
Pogačar chased down Lenny Martinez (Bahraiv Victorious) to win stage five at the Tour de Suisse, as a final test of his climbing ability in the searing heat.
"It will probably be similar to the Tour with all the heat and the meters of altitude before the last climb, so it was good to check my legs and lungs," he explained.
"I went full speed; it was difficult, but the climb itself was very beautiful. Now I will 'reset' at home a bit and do some specific training, and then we will quickly head to Barcelona."
