Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar has given the 2023 Tour de France route a resounding thumbs up, saying that its particularly difficult profile is one that he appreciates a great deal.
Published in Paris on October 26th, the 2023 Tour visits all five mountainous regions of France and includes 30 categorised cols - climbs graded second-category or above, a record-breaking seven more than in 2022.
Well-known for his ultra-aggressive racing style, Pogačar pointed out that the difficulties start from the word go with a very hilly two days in the Basque Country. But he also added that the finale through the Alps and Vosges has its major challenges as well.
"The first week is already hard, and the third week is really, really hard, so it's going to be fun. I cannot wait for July," Pogačar said.
The winner in 2020 and 2021, Pogačar suffered a stinging defeat in 2022 at the hands of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). Even before the route was published, Pogacar had confirmed that in 2023, regaining his Tour de France crown will be his main challenge.
"I really like the route. It's going to be a hard race right from the start with a tough first week in the Basque Country,” Pogačar said backstage after the presentation.
“It has a lot of climbing which I like, particularly the first and third weeks. It’s going to be fun. It's still a long while away but I'm sure it will be another great Tour and I'm excited for next July."
The Tour has notably toughened up the first week of the race and Pogačar appreciated that, saying: "It makes it so much more interesting.”
He refused to be drawn on whether he will perhaps ease back a little on his usual all-out attacking style, given he paid a high price for his very ambitious attitude in the Alps in 2022. For now it was too early to make predictions about his strategy for 2023.
“We will see how the other teams will race,” he suggested.
“We’ll see what shape we are in. I’d love to continue racing like this, attacking always. But in the Tour de France maybe sometimes you have to wait until the final. We will see.”
One climb that seems tailor-made for Pogačar is the relentlessly steep Puy de Dôme ascent that rounds off the first week. Despite it coming relatively early in the Tour course, Pogačar said he expects “a tough battle for the GC. It looks like a really nice climb but it will be my first time there.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly given he captured the Tour de France in 2020 in a third-week uphill time trial, Pogačar was in no way disappointed by the inclusion of a similar test at a similar point in the 2023 race route.
“It looks very interesting, I should like it. There’ll be a GC battle there,” he said.
As for whether he has a slight sense of revenge after his Tour defeat in 2022, Pogačar recognised that was the case, albeit with a slightly hesitant, “yeah, I guess.”
“I’m really motivated to win it again and we’ll try to do everything I can in the race to succeed. The course is a little bit different to other years but it's still going to be a tough Tour."
