After 5 years, Tadej Pogacar returns to the Dauphine roads: in addition to seeking victory, the world champion can do an important test and compare himself with Vingegaard and Evenepoel before the Tour de France. The Slovenian returns to racing more than a month after his triumph in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and with 7 important victories already under his belt this season.

Pogacar arrives in France right after a training camp in Sierra Nevada (Spain), where he was able to prepare with the teammates who will support him at the Tour de France. His two main rivals on the French roads will be Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step). "All teams were in training camp in Spain. We could have organized a race" - joked the world champion during the press conference in Domérat -: "I'm here to win, but without too much pressure. The level of riders is incredible, it's almost like the Tour de France. I'm here to win, but I don't want to have stress because I'm coming from an intense training. I think there will be great battles in the time trial and in the mountains. And if it doesn't go as expected, I shouldn't panic. In the past, the Dauphine has not always been a completely reliable indicator of what will happen at the Tour de France."

Pogacar beat Jonas Vingegaard last year at the Tour, but knows this year's race will be more difficult, because the Dane is not coming from a major injury like last year. "This Dauphine will give me important indications of what I still need to improve. Depending on how I feel, we'll decide if it's worth doing another day on the time trial bike or if we need to push a bit more. I must remember that I'm coming out of a long training block and I must get rid of that desire that drives me to want to win at all costs. I need to let go, see how my legs are and try to give my best."

Everyone knows that Pogacar races to win and this way of riding a bike leads him to improve and add new victories to his palmares every time.

"I haven't done anything crazy, but I'm happy to have followed a high-quality training. I'm on the right track. My data is very good, especially from December, February, and April. We'll soon see if my legs will be in place during the race. I can't compare my current values to those from last year when I raced the Giro. I think changes can be useful, I wanted to try other things, to avoid falling into routine. During this spring, I learned to ride better in the group. In stage races, the scenario is always a bit the same. I find the classics more interesting and this also helps me mentally."

From today we'll see Pogacar race against Vingegaard, and it will be interesting to see how the two will study each other and what kind of actions they'll make. "Jonas seems to be in good shape, I think he'll be at a very high level. I can't wait to see him. But he's not my only opponent, there are others, like Remco Evenepoel. It will be fun for people watching us on TV and we'll have fun racing too. I'm very happy with the level I've reached."