The start of this year's Tour de France may still be nearly two months away, but Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) is already immersed in his preparations for the yellow jersey.

"The pressure is already on for this year's Tour, but that gives me even more motivation," Pogachar told RTV Slovenia.

"I will do the same thing again and approach the Tour with the approach that I can win the yellow jersey for the third time."

The two-time winner said he is gradually ramping up the training he has been doing recently on his home roads in Slovenia after shortening his last race block to support his fiancée, Urska Zigato, after her mother's death.

But Pogachar will soon move further afield, scouting the cobbles of stage 5 of the Tour de France, plus three weeks of high-altitude training in Livigno, Italy.

"Next weekend we'll see a stage of this year's race in the Pyrenees, then the Chronomètre, then three stages in the Alps," Pogachar said.

"It's going to be busy before the high altitude training." We're already in the Tour," Pogacar said."

UAE Team Emirates recently announced that Pogacher and his teammates will train at high altitude in Livigno and St. Moritz, near the Italian-Swiss border.

Pogachar will also return home to defend his Tour of Slovenia title from June 15 to June 19 before the Tour de France and will take part in another block of races to "get back into the rhythm of competition to get used to the large groups, attacks, and high heart rates," He said.

"After the race around Slovenia, I don't know what awaits me in between. Maybe I will go to the highlands for another week, then I will go to Copenhagen and start the Tour," Pogachar said.

Pogaczar cited fellow Slovenian Primoš Roglič as his biggest rival for the 2022 Tour de France.

Roglič finished second in 2020, and Pogačar took the lead from the same Slovenian in the final stage time trial. In 2021, however, Roglič, a three-time winner of the Vuelta a España, failed to reach Paris, suffering two major crashes early in the race and ultimately retiring.

Although Roglic has not raced this season since Iturria Basque in early April due to knee pain, his Jumbo Visma team announced last week that he is currently undergoing a rehabilitation period before heading to the team's training camp in the Sierra Nevada, Spain, for The team announced that he is in full training.

However, Roglic's knee problems do not seem to have changed the fact that Pogachar is still a threat to him in the yellow fight.

"We push each other to the finish line and everyone wants to win for the team. It's the same in the Tour," Pogachar told RTV Slovenia.

"I'm already looking forward to this decisive battle. Of course there are other riders, but I also think Primoš is the most dangerous one for me.