Sawt Falasteen - Pogacar primed with Tour de France ready to start in Florence

Fans have flocked into Florence for the Grand Depart of the 111th edition of the Tour, a 21-day 3,498km run that crosses the Alps twice and ends on the French Riviera on July 21.

The race is billed as a four-way struggle between Visma's Vingegaard, former champion and favourite Tadej Pogacar of Team UAE, former Vuelta and Giro champion Red Bull rider Primoz Roglic and Tour newcomer Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step.

Evenepoel, who won both the Vuelta and the world championships in 2022, has described Pogacar as "untouchable if he stays safe and sound" even though the Slovenian revealed on arrival in Florence that he was recovering from a dose of Covid.

The big four all predicted the first two days would feature a scrap for the yellow jersey between Visma's Wout Van Aert and his eternal rival Mathieu Van der Poel.

Van Aert deflected the attention by moaning that he was in "the worst form for a Tour de France of my life" and insisting his role at the Grand Boucle was simply to help Vingegaard.

Both men suffered bad falls in the build up to the Tour.

World champion Van Der Poel also shrugged off the expectation.

"The first two days look too hard for me and (teammate) Jasper (Philipsen)," he said.

- Italian job -

Day one takes the 176 riders over seven climbs as it crosses Italy to the Adriatic seaside resort of Rimini with its pretty beaches and lidos.

Director Christian Prudhomme has promised a brawl from day one, and a Team UAE attack would seem as likely a scenario as any, given they did just that on stage 1 in 2023.

Adam Yates is one of four UAE riders described by team leader Pogacar as "superstars", and he would seem equipped to take the yellow jersey again after beating his twin brother Simon to the line on day one last year.

Another Briton, Tom Pidcock, Roglic and even Pogacar himself are also worth keeping an eye on Saturday.

Of the Italians gunning for the yellow in Italy, Alberto Bettiol of EF Education First is nailed on to make a bid as the American team have a history of gunning for a day one yellow jersey.

The seven climbs are all short and average out at around 6.5 percent incline, making for some explosive racing.

- Cavendish hunts Merckx -

Ageing British sprinter Mark Cavendish, 39, is back at the Tour de France as the subject of his own Netflix documentary on his personal quest for one last stage win before riding off into the sunset.

The Manx Missile, who was given a knighthood in King Charles's birthday honours earlier this month, has 34 Tour de France stage wins over his career, the same as Eddy Merckx.

"Everybody would love to see Mark win a 35th stage, but just don't expect us to give him one," said defending green jersey Mads Pedersen.

- Giro-Tour double -

Winner of the 2020 and 2021 Tour de France, Pogacar won the Giro d'Italia with supreme ease in May and is gunning to become the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 -- the year Pogacar was born -- to win the rare combination of a Tour-Giro double.

His Giro campaign was a parade through Italy in pink, and if his form is unaffected by a bout of Covid 11 days ago this could well happen again in France.

One thing in his favour might be the sheer length of the time-trials.

Stage seven takes in a flat 25km through the vineyards from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin while the final stage will provide a jaw-dropping 35km chase along the Riviera from Monaco to Nice.

Both will suit Pogacar but as the Slovenian knows only too well, a lot can happen over 21 days and 3,498km of road.

B.Khalifa--SF-PST