Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) may “pay the price” for his early-season feats as he targets a momentous Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double, believes five-time yellow jersey winner Miguel Indurain.
Indurain, who won the Tour de France-Giro d’Italia double in 1992 and 1993 – and remains the only cyclist to win the Tour five times in a row – assessed Pogacar’s chances of matching his achievement in 2024.
“For sure he’s got the capacity [to do the double]. Of course, he has,” Indurain told Cyclingnews.
“In my era, the way we handled the season differently, but it remains a very hard challenge no matter which approach path you take.
“If he’s winning so much now, he could pay the price for that later,” he added.
“But that said, there’s so much more data about power output and watts and so on now than there was in my era, it’s much easier to manage your effort.”
Indurain – drawing on his own experiences – warned of the challenges of tackling back-to-back GCs, as Pogacar will do later this year.
“The effort you have to make is a big one, even though every rider is different,” he said.
“And then after starting at the Giro, there’s the question of holding your form right the way through to the end of the third week of the Tour. That last week could drain him [Pogacar] in particular.
“It’s important just to stay focussed on the race you have in front of you. Each race is different, with its time trials, mountains and so on. You can’t be racing the Giro thinking about what might happen in the Tour.”
Of the month-long break between the two Grand Tours, Indurain noted: “In my era it was different, there was less time. Either way, you have to strike a balance between easing back too much to try and rest and training too hard. That’s very difficult.”
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‘I don’t know why!’ – Even Pogacar unsure over wild solo attack
The nature of the UAE Team Emirates team around Pogacar has often been discussed, with some questioning whether he has the right support, despite a team stacked with the likes of Adam Yates and Joao Almeida.
On this theme, Indurain said: “The thing is though, that Pogacar’s racing style is not based around relying heavily on his team. And those efforts end up being paid for in the long run.
“That’s the way he is though, and that’s not going to change.”
The Giro gets underway on May 4, while the Tour’s Grand Depart is on June 29.