PARIS: Tadej Pogacar believes he has the right team in place to help him fight for a third Tour de France triumph with an eight-rider UAE roster confirmed on Friday.
“It’s already my fifth time coming to the Tour and I’m really excited about it,” said Pogacar, a back-to-back winner in 2020 and 2021 who finished runner-up in the past two editions to Jonas Vingegaard.
“We’ve worked really hard all year as a team to prepare for this. We’ve spent a lot of time together as a group training at altitude and put in a lot of hours in the saddle. We’re in a really good place as a group.”
Pogacar, 25, will also be bidding for the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double, last achieved by the late Marco Pantani in 1998, with this year’s Tour starting in Florence on June 29.
The Slovenian will be accompanied by Britain’s Adam Yates, Spaniards Juan Ayuso and Marc Soler, France’s Pavel Sivakov, Portuguese Joao Almeida, Belgian Tim Wellens and Germany’s Nils Politt.
“We know what we have to do to support Tadej,” said Yates, third in last year’s Tour de France.
“We’re aiming for the win and we know if things go our way it’s possible so it’s just a matter of staying focused and pulling together all the way to Nice.”
Ayuso, winner of the Tour of the Basque Country and third in the 2022 Vuelta, and Almeida, third in last year’s Giro, will compete in their first Tour de France.
Pogacar confident in his UAE team to deliver third Tour de France title
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Pogacar confident in his UAE team to deliver third Tour de France title
Lens have transformed from surprise package to genuine title threat to PSG in Ligue 1
- Lens have gone from surprise frontrunner to genuine challenger
- PSG are off duty because Nantes agreed to postpone their scheduled game on Sunday
PARIS: With nine rounds remaining in Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain still have not managed to shake off Lens in the title race.
Lens have gone from surprise frontrunner to genuine challenger and, with PSG not playing this weekend, coach Pierre Sage’s side can move two points ahead at the top with a win at mid-table Lorient on Saturday.
PSG are off duty because Nantes agreed to postpone their scheduled game on Sunday in order to give PSG better preparation for the Champions League second leg against Chelsea next week.
It seems PSG hardly need it, leading 5-2 from the last-16 first leg on Wednesday.
The decision hardly pleased Nantes fans, who are facing yet another relegation scrap with a third coach this season. Ahmed Kantari was sacked this week and replaced by Vahid Halilhodzic.
Kantari was in charge for just three months. He was hired in mid-December after Nantes fired Luís Castro, who lasted 15 games.
Key matchups
After scraping a narrow win at Toulouse last weekend, Marseille moved back into third place on goal difference from Lyon.
But Marseille’s fans are still angry at facing another trophyless season and coach Habib Beye’s players need a strong performance at home against Auxerre on Friday to appease them.
Monaco are at home to Brest on Saturday and the players are on a roll under attack-minded Belgian coach Sébastien Pocognoli. Monaco have won their past four league games, including impressive away wins against PSG and Lens.
Lyon look to snap a four-game winless streak when they travel to lowly Le Havre and fifth-placed Rennes seek a fifth straight win when they host Lille, with both of those games on Sunday.
Players to watch
Monaco’s turnaround in fortunes have coincided with American forward Folarin Balogun finding form. He looked at his best last Friday against PSG, where his movement and hold-up play stood out, and he has 13 goals overall this season.
Lens winger Florian Thauvin is in fine form after scoring in Ligue 1 and the French Cup last week.
Rémi Himbert has caught the eye on the left side of Lyon’s attack and the 18-year-old forward’s form has earned him a first professional contract until 2028.
Rennes striker Esteban Lepaul looks to add to his 13 league goals this season.
Out of action
Lyon’s goalscoring midfielder Pavel Šulc remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Marseille central defender Nayef Aguerd requires an operation to treat pubalgia — a chronic groin injury problem — which has been troubling the Morocco international for months.
Nice midfielder Everton is expected to miss the rest of the season. The 18-year-old broke into the team this year but suffered a serious ankle injury in training this week.
Off the field
PSG’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was grounded in Qatar this week amid the intensifying Iran war.
Flights in and out of the Middle East have been impacted by the Iran war, started by the US and Israel on Feb. 28.
PSG have been bankrolled by Qatari backer QSI since the club’s takeover 15 years ago.
