Five-times Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain has added his voice to the chorus of leading figures in the sport backing Tadej Pogačar for a second straight victory in cycling's flagship race this summer.
Indurain argued that even without the long list of triumphs the UAE Team Emirates - XRG star has racked up in his career, Pogačar's 2024 Grand Boucle win alone is enough to give the Slovenian the status of top Tour de France favourite.
"His strength, his team and his motivation make him the big contender," Indurain told Spanish news agency EFE during a series of homages for the centenary of the birth of 1950s Basque cycling trailblazer Jesus Loroño. "He'll start [the season] as the favourite."
"Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) started out as top Tour contender last year, because he'd won in 2023, even if his season was then badly affected by that fall in Itzulia," Indurain argued.
"And being favourite is something you have to show from day to day, too, in a sport where there's always lots of potential setbacks, and where every year, each race is completely different."
A fan of long stages and 'the mythical climbs' in his time, Indurain recognised that these days races are "shorter and punchier, the climbs are way steeper and there's a much more aggressive approach to racing."
"Everything is much more controlled than it used to be, too. There's so much information out there during a race, the freedom you used to have to get into breakaways has disappeared."
"But that's how it is these days, and you have to adapt to that."
The most recent winner of five Tours de France and the only rider ever to take five in unbroken succession, from 1991 to 1995, Indurain pointed to Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Juan Ayuso and Pablo Torres (both UAE Team Emirates-XRG) as the figureheads of the next generation of Spanish racer.
However, Indurain added that at the moment, "we're lacking an [outright] winner, and that makes it much tougher."
"Lots of [Spanish] riders are coming on strong and they don't just race in home teams, they're not scared of racing for foreign squads. But these days there are lots of potential winners, lots of potential contenders."
"These days it's win or nothing, too. If you just get a good result and not a victory, people don't give it the same importance as they used to back in my day."
