Hopes rise that Pogacar will come to Tour Down Under

Roger Vaughan |

Could Tadej Pogacar be a star attraction at a future edition of the Tour Down Under
Could Tadej Pogacar be a star attraction at a future edition of the Tour Down Under

Imagine what carnage Jay Vine and his team might have unleashed at the Tour Down Under on stage two with Tadej Pogacar in their lineup.

The Santos Tour’s campaign to bring the four-time Tour de France champion to Adelaide will take a significant step forward this week when Pogacar’s manager Alex Carera visits the race.

Race director Stuart O’Grady confirmed before Thursday’s second stage that Carera had contacted him, wanting to come to the Tour.

Pogacar
Tadej Pogacar is the biggest star in cycling, among the greatest ever in the sport. (AP PHOTO)

Pogacar is cycling’s biggest star, drawing comparisons to Eddy Merckx, and securing him would be a major coup for the Adelaide race. 

But it would be a nightmare for rival teams, who could not even match UAE Team Emirates’ firepower on Thursday in the Adelaide Hills.

Vine and teammate Jhonatan Narvaez broke away on the decisive Corkscrew Rd climb, with the Australian winning the stage by nearly a minute.

They have taken a stranglehold on the race, with Jayco AlUla’s Swiss rider Mauro Schmid a minute and five seconds behind Vine on the overall standings.

Vine
Tadej Pogacar’s Australian teammate Jay Vine celebrates his win on stage 2 of the Tour Down Under. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

Vine is the latest Australian to win the Tour, claiming the overall title in 2023, and Ecuador’s Narvaez is the defending champion.

Pogacar is said to have come close to signing up this year, but instead the Slovenian stuck to his usual program as he targets a fifth Tour de France title. 

The race will continue on Friday with a 140.8km stage from suburban Henley Beach to Nairne in the Adelaide Hills.

It will most likely be a stage for the sprinters, with Australian Sam Welsford (Ineos Grenadiers) and England’s Matt Brennan (Visma-Lease A Bike) smarting after Dan Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) upstaging them to win stage one.

AAP