COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Primoz Roglic must find a way to stop his Slovenian rival Tadej Pogacar from winning the Tour de France for the third consecutive time.
Pogacar is firm favorite to win the three-week race, which starts in Denmark today and ends in Paris on July 24.
Pogacar won Tirreno-Adriatico and the UAE Tour this year, and showed his class with an unprecedented long-distance solo attack to win the Strade Bianche in March -- despite being involved in a crash early on in the one-day race.
"I think my shape is good, not too much different compared to last year," Pogacar said Thursday. "I feel more confident, I also feel stronger, but we'll see in the race if it's true or not."
But Roglic also impressed when he won the Criterium du Dauphine stage race this month to add to his dramatic victory at the Paris-Nice in March.
Roglic was brilliantly aided at the Dauphine by his Jumbo-Visma teammate Jonas Vingegaard, a climbing ace who is also quick. Vingegaard was visibly moved when Danish fans chanted his name at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen on Wednesday. They will cheer him again in today's opening time trial around Denmark's capital city.
"As long as we work together, we believe we can beat (Pogacar)," Roglic said. "We are a strong team and we have a lot of qualities."
Jumbo-Visma has Vingegaard, last year's Tour runner-up, as a co-leader in case Roglic fades, while Pogacar remains the outright No. 1 on the UAE Team Emirates lineup.
"It's a big difference having two compared to one. A lot can happen in the Tour, there's so much stress," Vingegaard said. "We really want to go with two leaders and we believe we can challenge Pogacar."
They bonded at the Dauphine by sharing beers after stages on the hotel balcony.
"Jonas is super strong, we're strong individually, and so the whole team is strong," Roglic insisted. "We're super good friends."
Roglic has won the past three Spanish Vueltas, but is widely remembered for his soul-crushing defeat to Pogacar on the 2020 Tour.
Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk and American Sepp Kuss will help Roglic in the mountains. He will need it against Pogacar, who also twice won the polka-dot jersey for best climber.
Meanwhile, teammate Wout van Aert eyes the green jersey for best sprinter. But the one-day classics specialist and former cyclo-cross world champion is nursing a sore kneecap.
Another threat is Australian rider Ben O'Connor, who finished fourth in 2021.
The race features the return of Paris-Roubaix's cobblestones and six mountain stages with five summit finishes, including the famed Alpe d'Huez ascent with its 21 hairpins.
Before reaching the heights, the peloton discovers Copenhagen's Little Mermaid during today's eight-mile clock race.
"We have decided that I'll be the third rider from the team to start. This is the most comfortable way," Pogacar said. "I don't think I can win it, but I'll give the maximum and it's not too long."
The second stage is for sprinters,125 miles from the port city of Roskilde to Nyborg in central Denmark.
It could be windy, like Stage 3, which starts from Vejle on the Jutland Peninsula and ends in Sonderborg in southern Denmark after 113 miles of flats.
After a travel day, riders tackle on Tuesday five small climbs on the route from the French coastal city of Dunkerque to Calais.
Treacherous cobbles follow on Stage 5 and then a mountaintop finish at the Planche des Belles Filles awaits on Stage 7. Pogacar grabbed the yellow jersey there in 2020 by crushing Roglic in a dramatic time trial on the eve of the finish.
"There's a tricky first week with possible crosswinds on the flat, bridges and cobbles," Pogacar said. "If we manage to remain united as a team, we don't need to ride aggressively. We just have to fight for positions. We're ready for that."
The Pyrenees have daunting climbs to Peyragudes ski resort and Hautacam.
The penultimate stage is an exciting 25-mile time trial to the clifftop village of Rocamadour in south-central France.
Belgium's Wout van Aert, center, Denmark Joans Vingegaard, second right, Slovenia's Primoz Roglic, far right, and Sepp Kuss of the U.S., far left, line up during the team presentation ahead of the Tour de France cycling race in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The race starts Friday, July 1, the first stage is an individual time trial over 13.2 kilometers (8.2 miles) with start and finish in Copenhagen. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Slovenia's Primoz Roglic, right, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, second right, and other team Jumbo Visma riders line up during the team presentation ahead of the Tour de France cycling race in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The race starts Friday, July 1, the first stage is an individual time trial over 13.2 kilometers (8.2 miles) with start and finish in Copenhagen. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
2020 and 2021 Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia rides on the podium during the team presentation ahead of the Tour de France cycling race in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The race starts Friday, July 1, the first stage is an individual time trial over 13.2 kilometers (8.2 miles) with start and finish in Copenhagen. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)