Back in spring, when Tadej Pogačar danced rings around Jonas Vingegaard in Paris-Nice, no one could look beyond the Slovenian for the Tour de France. Then in June, while Pogačar was recovering from a broken wrist and Vingegaard dominated the Dauphiné, a Danish cake walk to Paris began to look inevitable.
At the time of writing, before the Tour has started, Pogačar has been peddling the narrative that his crash came at the perfect time because it forced him to have some much-needed rest ahead back off his rival’s shoulders.