00:00Five minutes, because Belgium is playing. Thank you.
00:08Hey, Remco. Hello, Remco. What are your feelings three days before the Tour de France,
00:15in terms of form and confidence?
00:20For the moment, all good, I think. It was pretty good weather in Belgium,
00:26which is always very welcome. I had quite some good days at home, recovering from the
00:35small illness, so everything should be pretty okay with that. For the moment, all good.
00:43Remco, obviously, at the end of the day, you said you still had some work to do.
00:50How close are you now to where you would have wanted to be? If I'd asked you at the start of
00:56the season how you want to be going into the Tour de France, how close are you?
01:01At the start of the season, I would always have said that I didn't want to crash in Basque,
01:05so for sure there I had to put some steps back. Overall, I think I tried to push myself as much
01:15as possible on the altitude camp, in terms of training, nutrition, just everything. I tried to
01:23improve everything in a positive way, so I think for now I need to be happy with what I
01:31did the past two weeks, three weeks. I think I arrived for what was the best shape possible,
01:41seeing from Dauphiné on. I just try to push myself to the maximum every day, and I think
01:49on that side I don't have to blame myself for not training hard enough or not focusing enough,
01:56so I tried my best.
01:59Remco, there's been a lot of talk about your four top guys for the Tour de France. Who do you expect
02:06being on the highest level of your four guys going into this Tour?
02:13I expect Tadej to be unreachable, almost. I think what he showed in the Giro was already
02:21super impressive, and knowing that he didn't have to go deep in the races almost to get the results,
02:27will definitely not have tired him out to come here to the Tour, so I think Tadej will be
02:33the man to beat for this Tour de France.
02:35The team has made a big transformation to support you in this Tour. First,
02:41how satisfied are you with these changes and how much influence you had on the selection
02:47of the riders coming with you?
02:51In terms of the selection, I think I am not having much influence. For sure, the coaches,
02:59the DSs, the doctors, they all have to look into the data who is in the best shape
03:05for the moment, who is not ill, who is just performing well, so I think that speaks for
03:11himself that I am not the guy with the last word in terms of the selections.
03:16Then, I think it's a very nice way to start the Tour with seeing that many guys
03:23in work for me, so I think it's a privilege to have strong riders like Mikel, Ilan,
03:32all those big names riding and working for me, so it gives extra motivation and extra
03:39power in the legs to do my best the coming three weeks.
03:42The coach of Vingegaard said if he's going to start in good shape, then I'm not afraid
03:48he will bottle, or how do you say it, afbotten in the second and third week, he will always
03:55get better. Do you think you're the same kind of rider after the Grand Tours you did?
04:01I hope so. If we look at this first week, it's especially day one and day four that
04:08are very difficult days, which are quite in the beginning, so that means that there will
04:15not be a lot of fatigue in the body yet by that time, so I hope after that that I can
04:24use this first week to improve as well still a little bit. I think maybe I should hope for
04:32the same situation or for the same explanation that you just gave me about Jonas. I think
04:40that would be good for me as well to still go into my peak towards the second weekend
04:45and the third week, so I hope it's going to be like that, but for sure it's always more
04:52easy to say than to really have it like that. I spoke to Kasper Pedersen yesterday and he
04:57told me that he was very dedicated to support you this year, so I want to ask you what does
05:04he mean for your tour and also will you miss Kasper Eskren and the team this year?
05:10I think both Kaspers are very strong riders. I think for sure the team always has to make
05:19decisions and sometimes it's bigger decisions to leave somebody at home or not,
05:26but I think with the three rulers that we have here with Kasper Pedersen, Moscon and Lampi,
05:32I think we have three very strong riders who can also survive some climbs and I think Kasper
05:40main task will be to help me in the flat days when I need to go for a pit stop or when I have
05:47a mechanical or whatever, he's the guy to bring me back to really ride with his nose in the wind
05:52for me and we all know that he has the capabilities and the engine to do that and he's also very
05:59flexible. I mean he will never doubt any decision that I make, so I think Kasper is a guy that I've
06:06been racing with in Paris-Nice and also Dauphiné and everything was working very well, so I mean
06:12then it's already an easier decision to take a guy like that, to have that task for me.
06:19Remco, we are three days before your first Tour de France,
06:23how would you describe your excitement and what are you looking forward the most?
06:28Honestly for the moment I feel quite relaxed, so no stress or anything that would bother me.
06:37I'm just looking forward to everything actually, it's a first time for something, so
06:43that's why I look forward to a bit of everything already starting with the team presentation of
06:47tomorrow and also just the start of day one, the first rest day also, so I mean it's
06:55going to be quite an exciting exploring for me, so I think I'm looking forward to a bit of
07:04everything and hopefully also that we will have good weather in the next three weeks.
07:12Well I think for sure the Olympics are following up quite quickly, but luckily the travel from
07:19Nice to Paris is not that long, it's not like Paris-Tokyo for example, so I think after the
07:28Tour if I will have to go all out till the last day, I think in a few days I will be recovered.
07:35Like I said the travel is not that long, so some easier days at home or straight away in Paris
07:41will do me very good and it will just be important to not become sick, to not
07:51lose the shape and just stay busy on the bike, keep the legs rolling, so yeah I think
07:58it's quite short but it's not impossible, so it's also something I'm looking forward to,
08:06but for sure now it's full focus on the Tour first. About the first stage, there are people
08:13who say it's going to be a Matt Pedersen kind of stage, there are people who say the UAE is going
08:17to destroy everything and they are going to ride very fast. What do you think of this first stage
08:22with 26 flat kilometers in the end? Well I think I saw Matt Pedersen climbing in Dauphiné, he was
08:30going up very well, so I think if he has the legs and if he can handle the pressure that maybe
08:41a team like UAE can put, then he's in my opinion the top favorite for stage one.
08:48Personally I also think somebody like Wout or Mathieu could do it if they are in top shape,
08:55but yeah like you mentioned if UAE goes bananas from climb one, then it will be a very
09:02small group going to the finish line I think or maybe even a guy alone, so it will all depend
09:09on how the race will develop, but if the race develops like how I think it should develop,
09:15then probably Pedersen can be favorite number one, but yeah also with Mathieu and Wout in the back
09:23of our heads let's say. You've just mentioned about not getting sick
09:32before the Olympics as well and getting through the three weeks all right in the Tour de France,
09:37you were of course a bit sick after the Criterium du Dauphiné, how has that affected your preparation
09:43for this Tour de France and are you ready to fight immediately in the first four days
09:49for GC as well? Well yeah I think everybody knows I couldn't participate in the nationals which
09:58could and would have been the last big test for the Tour, also the trainings before I couldn't really
10:05train intensive or like high power trainings, high intensity trainings,
10:13so on that side I couldn't do 100% what I needed, but overall I could handle more calm
10:20trainings, longer trainings also were not the problem, but specific intensity trainings were
10:25not possible till yesterday, so that was a bit tricky and will it affect for the
10:33Tour? We will see, but then on the other hand I hope to be up there already in the first days,
10:39not necessarily to win a stage or to win, but more to not lose time and then be brave and strong
10:46enough to follow the group. A question, I know we're looking a long long way ahead, but you've
10:52got stage nine a long way ahead of you, the White Roads stage and those are difficult surfaces to
11:02ride on where you've suffered in the past, what are your thoughts about that stage and does it
11:09cast a shadow or influence the way that you think about your approach to this year's Tour de France?
11:15Thank you Wimko. Honestly it's a very beautiful stage, of course we did a recon of it, I think
11:21all the teams did a recon of it, so yeah I think you're obviously speaking about the Giro stage
11:29where I lost some time, but I think comparing myself now and then is unfair, seeing from what
11:37kind of injury I was coming back, so I think I'm feeling ready for that stage, it's something
11:45special, it will probably in my opinion be one of the most viewed sports events of this year,
11:51on a Sunday gravel road in the Tour, I think everybody wants to watch that on television,
11:57so it will be a day with a lot of pressure in the bunch, alongside the bunch as well,
12:04but yeah I'm actually quite excited for that stage, for sure the gravel sections can be
12:11tricky, but I think it's more a day where you can, sorry they were going close to the goal,
12:21so I think it's not a stage that can make you win the Tour, but it can
12:29make you lose some time, stupid time actually with mechanicals and stuff, but yeah I mean
12:37we'll have to see after the race who was in trouble, who was not, so
12:41but honestly I'm looking forward to that stage, it's something exciting, it's something
12:46that I've learned to do, so yeah I'm looking forward to next Sunday already.
12:53A question about the opening weekend, how do you rate your own chances Remco, you said
12:57you won't go for the win and try to limit losses, talking about Mott's route,
13:05but well some say it's a sort of like Liège-Bastogne-Liège stage,
13:11so we know we won it there a couple of times.
13:17Yes I agree, it's a very hard stage, but the thing is it's small 30 kilometers of
13:25downhill and flat part towards the finish line, so I think for me the only way to win it is in
13:32going solo, so I think on the first day of the Tour it's not really smart to do that,
13:38especially with some GC ambitions in the back of my head, so I think if there is any possibility
13:46to win for sure I will not leave it on the side, but I will not give myself 30 kilometers all out
13:52on my own to try and take that stage win. If I can do it in a sprint of a small group
13:58then it's quite an economic way, but if it has to be in a non-economic way then for sure I will
14:05not even give it a try, so it's more about surviving the first days and
14:11staying out of trouble and seeing how the race develops, how the legs feel and
14:18also bringing in the Tour atmosphere, I think that's going to be also a very important one
14:22on the first days. I'm curious, there's already been mention of UAE potentially going all out
14:28to try and disadvantage Jonas Van Gogh early on, you and Primoz Roglic were also injured in
14:34the crash in Itzouli and theoretically might have had less ideal preparation than you would
14:41otherwise have had, so I'm wondering are you wary of UAE trying to gain time early and indeed if you
14:50do feel good will you collaborate with that in trying to, bearing in mind that Jonas is coming
14:56in and is potentially short of form, so is that a legitimate tactic and is that something that
15:00you're wary of or indeed happy to join in with? I think if they decide that that's going to be
15:06their tactics I think we have to let them do what they want and not bother too much in their tactics
15:15and try to focus on ourselves, try to follow that pace as long as possible and see how it develops,
15:22but personally I don't think that Jonas will crack in the first days, not at all.
15:27I think UAE and especially Pogacar they want to pay back for what Jumbo did last year to UAE,
15:38so I think they have a bit the same tactics this year as Jonas is now a bit in the situation that
15:43Tadej was last year, so it might be a bit of a revenge for them, so I'm actually curious to see
15:51how they will approach the first days, but I think UAE has a team here where they want to win
15:59as much as possible with as much as possible stages and especially the GC as well after two
16:06years missing out, so I think they will be very motivated and they just want to show to the world
16:12that they are the best team, that they are kind of the Real Madrid of cycling, so no, not Manchester
16:19City. It's actually something very curious to look forward to and special to be part of as well,
16:31knowing what happened last year and the year before, so it's going to be a special situation
16:38in the race.
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