UAE boss expects Pogacar at Canada-level in road race: "He pulled away without even shifting into his highest gear"

The multiple Tour winner and outgoing world champion is not Gianetti's only asset in the quest to win the rainbow jersey, he says in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. “We have many riders who can do well on Sunday: Pogacar, Jay Vine, Isaac Del Toro, Pavel Sivakov...”, Gianetti sums up an impressive list of names. Gianetti does not mention Juan Ayuso. After a difficult relationship, the team and rider are parting ways. Ayuso is leaving for Lidl-Trek.

Of course, Pogacar's competition does not come only from his teammates. “There are other top riders here: Remco, Pidcock, the French team...,” says Gianetti, who does not only look at individual qualities. “On such a difficult course, I look first and foremost at teams rather than individual riders.”

Belgium is a strong collective with a strong leader. With Evenepoel, the country may well have Pogacar's main challenger. “On Sunday, we saw how strong he is. You don't win a time trial if you're not strong,” says Gianetti, who does add a remark. “But Sunday will be a completely different race: 270 kilometers with 5,400 meters of climbing, in these conditions. The best riders will rise to the top. Remco will certainly be in contention for the victory.”

During the World Championship time trial, Evenepoel dealt Pogacar a sensitive blow by overtaking him along the way. According to Gianetti, however, this should not affect Pogacar's performance in the road race. He refers to the recent Tour de France. “When Jonas Vingegaard overtook Remco in the second time trial of the Tour, it hurt him, but it didn't stop him from coming to the World Championships and beating Tadej. It shows that champions are capable of learning valuable lessons from defeats and coming back stronger.”

According to Gianetti, there were also explainable reasons for Pogacar's substandard time trial. “Tadej wasn't feeling his best that day for various reasons, but it will help him to be better this week. The three long flights to and from Canada and Rwanda caused fatigue, while he also trained hard between his time in Canada and Europe.”

Gianetti, therefore, finds it far-fetched that Evenepoel would have dealt Pogacar a mental blow. "You are exaggerating that. If Tadej had started one position earlier, Remco would never have overtaken him, and Tadej might have finished third. It's not about overtaking, but about the power and values that were pedaled. If Tadej had pedaled at his normal wattage, he wouldn't have been overtaken, and there would be no question of a mental blow," the former cyclist nuances.

There is, therefore, no hint of revenge in Pogacar. "I can say that Tadej didn't dwell on it for long and was already looking ahead on Monday. He's not out for revenge, but to win," explains Gianetti. "He also seems very calm, even though I've only seen him once, because I only landed on Thursday evening."

Before the World Time Trial Championships, Pogacar impressed in the Canadian one-day races, not by winning himself, but by helping his teammate Brandon McNulty to victory in Montreal, for example, after initially riding solo in the lead. Gianetti is hopeful that his rider will match that level now that Pogacar has recovered from all the traveling.

And if Pogacar reaches the level he showed in Canada, then according to Gianetti, the competition has reason to fear, because that's not far off his top level. “I don't think he was far off his Tour form in Montreal, because in the last 30 kilometers he didn't even have to shift into his highest gear and he still rode away.” Pogacar typically does not conclude his season after the World Championships. The European Championships in France and the Tour of Lombardy are also on his schedule. He could win the latter race for the fifth time in a row.