After a hero's welcome at the Tour of Slovenia, Tadej Pogachal attacked on the opening stage to Postojna to celebrate the victory of his UAE Team Emirates teammate Rafa Mayka.

The Slovenian rider is using his home race as a final stepping stone to the Tour de France and will be in top form when the Tour starts in Copenhagen on Friday, July 1.

Despite only being in his fourth season at the World Tour level and only 23 years old, Pogachar is chasing a third consecutive Tour de France win, a feat accomplished by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, and Chris Froome.

He has not raced since La Flèche Wallonne nearly two months ago, but is busy preparing for the Tour de France knowing that fellow Slovenian Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma) and other overall contenders are trying to prevent him from winning the yellow jersey for a third time.

Pogaerts is also a member of the Tour de France team.

Pogachar won Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico, was fifth in Milan-San Remo, and fourth in the Tour de Flanders, testing his skills on the cobbles in preparation for the Tour de France. This summer, he will be aiming for his third Tour win and his debut at the Vuelta a España.

"I don't want to burn out. I have to keep my pace and after spring I needed a rest," Pogachar told La Gazzetta dello Sport before the start of the opening stage of the Tour of Slovenia from Nova Gorica, near the Italian border. [It's] two stages in the Pyrenees, two stages in the Alps, and then the final time trial. Then I did the altitourde camp with the team on the Livigno."

This year's Tour de France features a classic-like early stage, cobblestones in northern France, a return to La Planche des Belle Filles where Pogachar stole his first Tour victory from Roglic in 2020, and a 40.7km final time to determine the winner in 2022! It all comes together with the high mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees heading into the Trial.

"The first week is scary," Pogachar admitted to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"There's a 12-km bridge finish in Denmark on the North Sea and the risk of echelon and bad weather. It will be survival. As they say, you can't win the Tour in the first week, but you can lose it. I need a strong team."

Pogachar was a bit shocked by what he discovered during his reconnaissance of the Alpine stage.

"I've never run Galibier and L'Alpe d'Huez. Galibier is really expensive and brutal, and L'Alpe d'Huez is terrible.

"If the temperature is 35 degrees like it was when we scouted, it will be an epic day. I remember the video of Marco Pantani winning there, and when I ran there I thought about the history of the hairpin and the different winners."

Pogachar admitted to feeling the expectations and threats of his rivals, but as always he is quietly confident in his abilities.

"I don't know if I can achieve the same results this year as I did in 2021. Stronger, leaner, more powerful, more psychologically confident," he said.

"My first win came out of nowhere, there was no pressure, it was a big surprise. There was no pressure, it was a big surprise. Now I know people are waiting for me. This year will not be easy and there will be a lot of pressure, but I know that if I don't feel pressure I won't win."

"To challenge Roglic and Vingegaard, we have to be at our best. The Jumbo-Visma team has improved a lot and they are scary on the climbs. The Jumbo-Visma team is improving a lot and they are scary on the climbs.

The Tour of Slovenia is about bonding with UAE Team Emirates teammates before the race and the Grand Boucle.

"I'm really looking forward to this week. The race goes through my hometown. I will have goosebumps as we pass through Komenda and if I don't go too fast, I might stop for a bit," Pogachar said.

"I'm here with a strong team and most of the riders will also be racing in the Tour de France. For us it is the final rehearsal and our goal is to really connect. We always go into a race with the desire to win and we want to do our best in this race, but we also want to have fun."