Vingegaard gets piece of unsolicited advice from Pogacar: "Last year I wasn't at my best either"

Tadej Pogacar needs to defend his pink jersey for three more days in the Giro d'Italia before he can declare himself the overall winner of the Italian grand tour. The Slovenian UAE-Team Emirates leader is already looking forward to the two mountain stages that await the peloton after the penultimate sprint opportunity.

"A nearly perfect day, with good legs," that is how Pogacar described his stage on Thursday. "I'm happy with that because it was quite a fast ride. I might have been able to save my legs a bit for Saturday's stage, which I think is very beautiful and also happens to be near Slovenia. Why not go for it? If I have good legs, then we'll see what we do."

"But first, there's the stage on Friday. Everyone is already talking about Saturday, but there's another stage first," he says, obviously keeping himself sharp and focused. At the post-race press conference, he admitted that he doesn't really know what to expect from that stage. "I don't know anything about that stage. I will have to take a look at it. I still have to do my homework. It will definitely be a beautiful stage again, where I will be encouraged a lot. I enjoy the support I receive in this country. They can even pronounce my name correctly."

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Pogacar plans on granting (non-)teammates more opportunities in the coming days

A few days ago, Pogacar wanted to 'gift' VF Group-Bardiani rider Giulio Pellizzarri (and thereby Italy) a stage win, and during the interview, he seems to hint at something similar for Friday's stage. He also spoke briefly with the rider who called him his idol. "Giulio was very active in the breakaway again, so I talked to him. He is highly respected and is doing very well as a young rider. I expect a lot from him in the coming years."

In the past few stages, the wearer of the pink jersey also tried to help teammate Juan Sebastian Molano in the sprints, but that was not possible this time: the Colombian finished tenth. "We share this success. We have achieved this as a team over the past weeks, including thanks to Molano. He knew that the pink jersey would be the big goal, and he does everything he can to also achieve a good result himself. Today there was a lot of chaos, and then it's difficult for him and Rui, but I think he has a good chance to go for the stage win again in Rome."

Finally, Pogacar gave his great rival Jonas Vingegaard some unsolicited advice regarding his possible participation in the Tour de France. "Last year I wasn't at my best, but I went anyway and was still able to compete for the victory for a long time. You never know what might happen, everything can change in an instant. But I think Jonas will be in top form for the Tour, so I expect him at his best."