Latest news with #Pogacar
The South African
a day ago
- Sport
- The South African
Tour de France: UAE name powerful line-up to support Tadej Pogacar
Tadej Pogacar will set off in defence of his Tour de France title on Saturday, 5 July backed by a powerful squad which his UAE team unveiled on Friday. The 26-year-old Slovenian has ridden the three-week Tour five times, winning three and finishing second to Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023. 'It's hard to believe it's already my sixth Tour de France, time flies,' he said in the team press release. He started the season by taking the UAE Tour, then won four one-day races, including Liege-Bastogne-Liege, finishing on the podium in three others. He ended his Tour preparation by winning the penultimate warm-up event, the eight-day Criterium du Dauphine. 'I'm lucky to have had close to the perfect preparation this year – everything has gone really smoothly,' said Pogacar. He will be backed by five of the team-mates who helped him to victory in the Dauphine – Marc Soler, Nils Politt, Pavel Sivakov, Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez. Reflecting the depth of the UAE squad, they will be joined by Adam Yates and Joao Almeida, who both finished in the top six in last year's Tour de France. In Pogacar's absence, Almeida won the final Tour warm-up, the Tour of Switzerland, for his third stage-race victory this season. 'The vibes in the team are amazing right now, and that gives me a lot of confidence,' said Pogacar. Joao Almeida (POR), Jhonatan Narvaez (ECU), Tadej Pogacar (SLO), Nils Politt (GER), Pavel Sivakov (FRA), Marc Soler (ESP), Tim Wellens (BEL), Adam Yates (GBR) Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
France 24
a day ago
- Sport
- France 24
UAE name powerful team to support Pogacar in Tour de France
The 26-year-old Slovenian has ridden the three-week Tour five times, winning three and finishing second to Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023. "It's hard to believe it's already my sixth Tour de France, time flies," he said in the team press release. He started the season by taking the UAE Tour, then won four one-day races, including Liege-Bastogne-Liege, finishing on the podium in three others. He ended his Tour preparation by winning the penultimate warm-up event, the eight-day Criterium du Dauphine. "I'm lucky to have had close to the perfect preparation this year — everything has gone really smoothly," said Pogacar. He will be backed by five of the team-mates who helped him to victory in the Dauphine -- Marc Soler, Nils Politt, Pavel Sivakov, Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez. Reflecting the depth of the UAE squad, they will be joined by Adam Yates and Joao Almeida, who both finished in the top six in last year's Tour de France. In Pogacar's absence, Almeida won the final Tour warm-up, the Tour of Switzerland, for his third stage-race victory this season. "The vibes in the team are amazing right now, and that gives me a lot of confidence," said Pogacar. Team UAE Tour de France squad: Joao Almeida (POR), Jhonatan Narvaez (ECU), Tadej Pogacar (SLO), Nils Politt (GER), Pavel Sivakov (FRA), Marc Soler (ESP), Tim Wellens (BEL), Adam Yates (GBR).
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pogačar's quest for a fourth Tour de France title backed by strong UAE Team Emirates squad
FILE - Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar of the UAE Team Emirates URG team crosses the finish line to win the Belgian cycling classic and UCI World Tour race Liege Bastogne Liege, in Liege, Belgium, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, file) PARIS (AP) — Tadej Pogačar will be supported by an impressive squad in his quest for a fourth Tour de France title. The UAE Team Emirates leader will be surrounded by excellent all-rounders and climbers with the experience required to answer the demands of the most grueling of three-week races. Advertisement The 26-year-old Pogačar is once again the main favorite after yet another dominant season that recently saw him win the Critérium du Dauphiné, the traditional curtain riser before the Tour that generally indicates the form of the moment. The Tour de France starts on July 5 from the northern city of Lille. Pogačar's team said on Friday that he will be supported by five teammates from the Critérium du Dauphiné — Jhonatan Narváez, Nils Politt, Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler and Tim Wellens — with João Almeida and Adam Yates rounding out the squad. Pogačar is an extremely versatile rider capable of winning on all terrains. Advertisement This year, the reigning world champion from Slovenia also won the Tour of Flanders, Strade Bianche, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Flèche Wallonne. His appetite for victory has drawn comparisons with the greatest cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx. 'I'm excited for the Tour to start. I'm lucky to have had close to the perfect preparation this year — everything has gone really smoothly, especially coming off a great altitude camp with my teammates,' Pogačar said. 'The vibes in the team are amazing right now, and that gives me a lot of confidence.' If Pogačar wins the Tour, he will draw level with Chris Froome for the fifth most Tour wins of all time. Four riders — Jacques Anquetil, Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain — have won cycling's biggest race five times. Pogačar's main rival through July is expected to be Jonas Vingegaard, a two-time Tour champion who will lead the Visma-Lease a Bike team. Advertisement 'Of course, you can never be fully prepared for something like the Tour de France — it's unpredictable, and that's part of what makes it so special," Pogačar said. 'I'm expecting a very high level from all the other top riders." The race features six mountain stages with five mountain finishes, and two time trials. 'The first few days should be really exciting for the fans with some open, aggressive stages, and the last week is very climbing-heavy with some iconic stages,' Pogačar said. "It's going to be a big fight all the way to Paris, but I'm ready to give everything." ___ AP cycling:
Kuwait Times
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Kuwait Times
Pogacar wins first Dauphine ahead of Tour de France
UAE Team Emirates XRG's Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey celebrates winning the overall race on the podium of the 8th and final stage of the 77th edition of the Criterium du Dauphine cycling race, 133,3 km between Val-d'Arc and Val-Cenis - Plateau du Mont Cenis, on June 15, 2025. –AFP PARIS: Reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar wrapped up the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday with a podium finish in the eighth and final stage, which was won by France's Lenny Martinez. A winner of three stages in total, the Slovenian dominated the 77th edition of the Dauphine to top the overall classification by 59sec ahead of Dane Jonas Vingegaard — three weeks before the start of the Tour de France. 'It's been a really amazing week,' Pogacar said. 'Once again today, the team did a great job. We managed to defend the (yellow) jersey and we can go home happy and prepare for the Tour.' German Florian Lipowitz completed the podium, 2min 38sec behind Pogacar, while Belgium's Remco Evenepoel came fourth at 4min 21sec. Sunday's final stage was a 133.3km mountainous trek from Val-d'Arc to Val-Cenis, with an uphill finish at the Plateau du Mont-Cenis. The 21-year-old Martinez caught Spaniard Enric Mas with 8km to go to give France its first victory in this Dauphine, finishing 34sec ahead of Vingegaard and Pogacar. Vingegaard tried to catch Martinez but was unable to shake off Pogacar. The Dane and the Slovenian then stopped attacking and rolled in together. Pogacar now has 99 victories to his name — a record for an active rider at just 26 years of age. 'There's a lot of positives from this week and we turned all the negatives into positives, so it's all good,' said Pogacar, who bounced back from a poor time-trial performance in stage four to lay down the gauntlet to his principal Tour rivals. 'There's not much to do ahead of the Tour. I rest a bit, maybe some extra work for the time-trial, and then I'm ready,' the three-time Tour winner added. The 2025 Tour de France runs from July 5-27, with Pogacar the firm favourite following his first Dauphine crown. – AFP
Gulf Today
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Pogacar wins first Dauphine ahead of Tour de France title defence
Reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar wrapped up the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday with a podium finish in the eighth and final stage, which was won by France's Lenny Martinez. A winner of three stages in total, the Slovenian dominated the 77th edition of the Dauphine to top the overall classification by 59sec ahead of Dane Jonas Vingegaard -- three weeks before the start of the Tour de France. 'It's been a really amazing week,' Pogacar said. 'Once again today, the team did a great job. We managed to defend the (yellow) jersey and we can go home happy and prepare for the Tour.' German Florian Lipowitz completed the podium, 2min 38sec behind Pogacar, while Belgium's Remco Evenepoel came fourth at 4min 21sec. Sunday's final stage was a 133.3km mountainous trek from Val-d'Arc to Val-Cenis, with an uphill finish at the Plateau du Mont-Cenis. The 21-year-old Martinez caught Spaniard Enric Mas with 8km to go to give France its first victory in this Dauphine, finishing 34sec ahead of Vingegaard and Pogacar. Vingegaard tried to catch Martinez but was unable to shake off Pogacar. The Dane and the Slovenian then stopped attacking and rolled in together. Pogacar now has 99 victories to his name -- a record for an active rider at just 26 years of age. 'There's a lot of positives from this week and we turned all the negatives into positives, so it's all good,' said Pogacar, who bounced back from a poor time-trial performance in stage four to lay down the gauntlet to his principal Tour rivals. 'There's not much to do ahead of the Tour. I rest a bit, maybe some extra work for the time-trial, and then I'm ready,' the three-time Tour winner added. The 2025 Tour de France runs from July 5-27, with Pogacar the firm favourite following his first Dauphine crown. Meanwhile, French rider Romain Gregoire clinched the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday thanks to a late solo breakaway. Gregoire edged countryman Kevin Vauquelin in second place by 20sec, with Dutch rider Bart Lemmen in third. Pre-race contender Ben O'Connor was fifth, 1min 7sec behind, after a hilly 129.4km ride which started and ended in the town of Kuessnacht. Gregoire, 22, powered to his first major victory of the season by splitting from the breakaway in rain-sodden conditions in the final descent in central Switzerland. Agencies
