Cycling: Who will win the 2022 Tour de France? Tadej Pogacar enters the race as the defending champion, while teams Jumbo – Visma and Ineos Grenadiers do not only have one option. There's also Aleksandr Vlasov. We look at the 5 top favorites and dare a prediction.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE)
In 2022, the overall victory at the Tour de France will only go to Tadej Pogacar. The winner of the past two years seems untouchable - almost like Lance Armstrong in his time. The Slovenian, who is only 23 years old, is actually still at the beginning of his career. And unlike most of the dominators of recent years, he is also in top form in numerous other races. In 2022 he finished fifth at Milan - Sanremo and won the UAE Tour, as well as Tirreno - Adriatico, Strade Bianche and most recently the Tour of Slovenia. His performance at the Tour of Flanders was particularly impressive, where he finished fourth and thus showed hardly any weaknesses even on cobblestones. Since his team has now also been strengthened enormously, the tour victory can only go to Tadej Pogacar in 2022 without any unexpected incidents.
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Primoz Roglic (Jumbo – Visma)
Primoz Roglic is named as the greatest adversary of the reigning title holder. The Slovenian compatriot finished second two years ago and only lost the yellow jersey on the penultimate day. It almost seems as if this unexpected defeat would still paralyze him today. Although Primoz Roglic is still one of the best climbers and class riders in the world, his carefree attitude and inimitable liveliness from back then seems to have vanished. In the meantime, he has to fear the competition even in his own team and cannot be sure that he will remain the undisputed captain. That year he won Paris – Nice and most recently the Critérium du Dauphiné. So the dress rehearsal was a success, but the question marks got bigger. Finally, teammate Jonas Vingegaard seemed stronger in the mountains. But we shouldn't write off Primoz Roglic at all. If Tadej Pogacar shows even a hint of weakness, he will be there.
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Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo – Visma)
Jonas Vingegaard rose like a phoenix from the ashes last year. The now 25-year-old Dane jumped into the breach for the retired Primoz Roglic and ended the Grand Boucle sensationally in second place overall. Since then, Vingegaard has been one of the best drivers in the world. He finished second behind Pogacar at Tirreno – Adriatico and behind teammate Roglic at the Critérium du Dauphiné. There, however, he made the stronger impression, especially in the mountains. If he can preserve this form until the end of July, it may not only be dangerous for Roglic, but also for Pogacar. Because Vingegaard has improved in the time trial as well as in the mental area. We can be curious to see how Jumbo - Visma will tackle the first mountain stage and how the team management will distribute the roles. Because as a pure noble helper, Vingegaard is too good - above all he knows that himself.
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Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers)
Hardly anyone would have bet on Geraint Thomas as the overall winner at the 2022 Tour de Suisse. But the Brit used what was probably his last chance to put himself in the limelight again before the Tour de France. Before the start of the Tour of Switzerland, it was clear: the captains of the Ineos Grenadiers team are Daniel Martinez and Adam Yates. But now the tide has been reshuffled - and Geraint Thomas suddenly holds all the trump cards in his own hands. As the winner of the 2018 Tour de France, the now 36-year-old knows how to win a three-week tour. He can handle the mental and physical stress. And he has a terrific team. Ineos Grenadiers will gratefully accept the role of underdog. You can hide behind UAE and Jumbo - Visma and at the same time act with a threesome. If they do it tactically clever, they can tip the scales.
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Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora – hansgrohe)
The first Grand Tour of 2022 went to Bora - hansgrohe. Jai Hindley sensationally won the Giro d'Italia. The restructuring of the Raublinger racing team has therefore succeeded faster than expected. Now Aleksandr Vlasov should follow suit. The Russian is having a very strong season, winning the Tour of Valencia and the Tour de Romandie. He was also in yellow at the Tour de Suisse before a positive corona test forced him to give up. Of course we don't know if he would have won the second tour in Switzerland, but as strong as he was on the road, it can almost be assumed. Now we have to keep our fingers crossed that he will be 100 percent fit again for the Tour de France and can call on his maximum performance. Of all the favourites, he is certainly the biggest unknown. Good tactics will again be required to pull off the really big coup.
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Velomotion forecast: There is no way around Pogacar
Admittedly, a tip on Tadej Pogacar is not a daring forecast. A tip on every other driver would not be serious either. If we look at the past two years and what is happening in the current calendar year, then the tour winner in 2022 can only be called Tadej Pogacar. It's up to teams Jumbo - Visma and Ineos Grenadiers to make life as difficult as possible for the reigning champion. However, an overthrow of the balance of power will not succeed - at most within a team. Because we expect Jonas Vingegaard to be on the podium again in 2022, ahead of his teammate Primoz Roglic.
☆☆☆ Tadej Pogacar (UAE)
☆☆ Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo - Visma), Primoz Roglic (Jumbo - Visma)
☆ Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora – hansgrohe), David Gaudu (Groupama – FDJ)
https://www.velomotion.de/magazin/2022/06/radsport-tour-de-france-2022-wertungstrikots/
https://www.velomotion.de/magazin/2022/06/radsport-tour-de-france-deutsche-oesterreicher-schweizer/