Pogacar and Landa break their silence ahead of long-awaited race returns

On Wednesday, the Tour de Suisse gets underway, and with it we'll see the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Mikel Landa return to racing. The world champion does so after a planned altitude camp in Sierra Nevada, while the Spaniard returns after a crash at the Tour of the Basque Country forced him to abandon. Both riders have given an update on how they're feeling.

First up, Pogacar, who we last saw in action at the start of May. Back then, the world champion claimed overall victory at the Tour de Romandie, backed up by four stage wins. The Tour de Suisse is therefore his final race before the Tour de France, and the Slovenian is really looking forward to it.

"Training has gone very well, both individually and as a team, and I'm arriving at the Tour de Suisse feeling strong and motivated," Pogacar said on the website of his team, UAE Team Emirates-XRG. "It's my first time racing here, which makes it even more exciting." With that, the Slovenian could potentially tick off another box on his bingo card.

"We've had a good block of training done at altitude over the past few weeks, and after watching our teammates racing and doing well at other races, we can't wait to put our race numbers on and put that work into action," Pogacar said, looking ahead to the Swiss five-day race.

Also lining up for UAE: Felix Großschartner, Brandon McNulty, Jhonatan Narváez, Domen Novak, Nils Politt and Tim Wellens.

Also back in action after a period of absence: Landa, who had to register a DNS on day three of the Tour of the Basque Country following a crash on day two. "It hasn't been a great season so far for me, as I had some bad luck, and coming into this race I am missing some racing days, but I'm happy to go there, be back in the peloton and improve my shape," the veteran said on his team's website.

The Spaniard will be flanked by Alberto Dainese, Gil Gelders, Maximilian Schachmann, Ilan Van Wilder, Louis Vervaeke and Filippo Zana. "It's a different Tour de Suisse, with only five stages on the menu and different scenarios for each day. Our riders are motivated to give their best, so we hope for a strong week with some good results," said sports director Sep Vanmarcke.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs | LinkedIn | Email