The event will feature eight exciting races, with Zabeel Mile (Group 2) as a main feature
sports2 hours ago
With one day remaining ahead of the Tour de France’s ‘Grand Depart’ in Denmark, Tadej Pogacar, the UAE Team Emirates star, sounded a warning to those hoping to dethrone the double champion.
The world’s greatest bike race embarks from Copenhagen on Friday and if the 30,000 fans who turned out for the unveiling of the teams on Wednesday is anything to go by, the Danish public will be out in force for the three opening stages here.
A confident Pogacar was thrilled by the prospect.
“I can’t wait,” the fresh-faced 23-year-old Slovenian said.
“We are all ready, we have a strong team and it’s just a matter of not stressing too much until Friday.”
The opening stage around the streets of Copenhagen may be hit by rain.
“I don’t know what to think about the time-trial but I’m ready and I’m sure its going to be fast. It’s short and technically challenging,” he said before the 13.2km individual test.
“Everyone seems to be stressed but we are confident,” said the surprise 2020 winner who defended his title 12 months ago.
Jumbo-Visma’s co-captain in Dane Jonas Vingegaard said he was hoping to simply survive the first week rather than attack it.
But his teammate Wout Van Aert, possibly the world’s best one-day racer, was planning to open with a bang after two editions impacted by Covid-19.
“Wearing the yellow jersey myself at the beginning of the race has been a big goal for me this season,” said Belgian Van Aert, one of the favourites to win the opening stage.
“I was surprised by the amount of people on the road sides. After two years, we can finally have a Grand Depart with huge crowds,” he said.
His key rival could be Ineos’s Italian world time-trial champion, the gentle-giant Filippo Ganna.
“Lots of people want this yellow jersey so it won’t be easy,” said Ganna, who won the Giro d’Italia’s opening day time-trial in May.
“Now I want the yellow jersey for my museum too,” he said.
The 2018 champion Geraint Thomas is racing his 12th Tour de France, and has promised Pogacar, Vingegaard and the rest of the contenders his Ineos team will be racing aggressively, in the manner they have adopted this season to such success.
Whoever wins on Friday, Saturday’s second stage runs 202.5km from Roskilde to Nyborg along verdant roads adjacent to fjords and it culminating with a 20km crossing of the Great Belt Bridge where a second equally tense struggle for the lead is expected.
Some 12 million cars and trucks cross the bridge each year but the 176-strong peloton is liable to be subject to strong crosswinds on the sea crossing.
Sunday’s final day in Denmark is a 182km run from Vejl to Sonderborg, a municipality that boasts more than 300km of bike paths in a nation where five times more journeys are made by bicycle than by car.
The event will feature eight exciting races, with Zabeel Mile (Group 2) as a main feature
sports2 hours ago
85 per cent of GPs who had suicidal thoughts blamed it on their working conditions which have deteriorated due to a lack of resources
europe2 hours ago
The president-elect claims to have been vindicated in saying on the campaign trail that 'criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in the country'
americas2 hours ago
The network is already banned from broadcasting from Israel amid a long-running feud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government
mena2 hours ago
Maphaka has only bowled 60.5 overs in first class cricket and was writing his school exams a few months ago
cricket3 hours ago
Early-year corrections could make way for fresh rally in gold, analyst says
markets3 hours ago
Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink face array of investigations
business4 hours ago
The sea will be rough to moderate in the Arabian Gulf; moderate to slight in Oman Sea
uae4 hours ago