Tadej Pogachar will enter the Tour de France with only two days of racing this month after being ruled out of the Tour de France in Slovenia.

The two-time Tour champion is still recovering from a broken wrist suffered in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in April. He resumed training on the road last week and is currently participating in the UAE Team Emirates training camp for June.

Pogachar is in Spain as part of a group of 13 riders, including Adam Yates and Rafau Mayka, who will play a key role in the Tour de France, while the others are in the pre-Tour warm-up races, the Criterium du Dauphiné and Tour de He will continue training while the other riders head to the Criterium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse, the pre-Tour warm-up races.

At a press conference from the Sierra Nevada, Pogachar confirmed his June schedule, revealing that two days of racing at the Slovenian championships will be his main preparation for the Tour outside of high-altitude training.

"Unfortunately, I have not been able to ride much on the road in the last four weeks due to reduced training, so I need to focus a little more on intervals and long outdoor training," Pogachar said of the Tour of Slovenia.

"I have been training pretty good so far. Home trainer, running, and now this week on the road. After the rollers, I'm not as bad as I thought I would be. Right now I'm just trying to get as much out of this camp as possible."

"I usually like to race before the big races. But the Grand Tour is 21 stages, and sometimes it's good to come in a little fresher. The Japanese championship is a two-day race. On the back of the bike, you can train like you're simulating a race.

"The support from the team is great, I can ride for hours on the bike, get massages and physiotherapy here, and on June 11 I'll be in Recon for some stages. Then back to the training camp in Sestriere. After that, I hope to participate in the TT and road race at the All-Japan Championships."

Pogachar will recon some important stages on June 11, then go to Sestriere, Italy, for a final training camp. He will also have a CT scan of his wrist next Monday to check the recovery of the navicular bone in his wrist. Broadly speaking, he is well on his way to competing in the Tour and a rematch with reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard.

However, he said that while his wrist may not be 100% for the Grand Depart in Bilbao, the injury will not interfere with his leg condition for the race, which kicks off on July 1. My wrist may not be 100%, but I think my legs are 100%. I don't need my wrist to train my legs. My wrists may not be 100%, but I think my legs are 100%.

Given the possibility of starting the race with a wrist that is not in perfect condition, is Pogachar worried about the tough, hilly stage at the start of the Tour? On the contrary, he says he prefers a hard race to a series of flat sprint stages, as in Denmark last year.

"The first two stages are really beautiful and super hard. The first two stages are really beautiful and super hard. Because you can already see who is there, who does what, and who has the jersey.

"The next day is not so stressful. But two years ago it was similar. Two years ago I felt similar, but I was in good shape then, so I really like the start of this tool."

Aside from the condition of his legs, the condition of his wrist is the biggest question that will affect the weeks leading up to the Tour. Pogachar said he may still be in a cast when the race starts next month, but that it is getting better every day.

"First of all, I shouldn't be on the road before six weeks. I tried to push the team to get on the bike, but I knew I couldn't put much stress on the navicular bone.

"Obviously, I ride with a plastic cast that I can put on and take off. It's for normal life, for the bike, and for support when I'm almost done. I take care of it every day

"My wrist is getting better every day and my range of motion is increasing. Once I see the scans I will know if I can put more pressure on my hands and maybe I need a soft brace on my wrists for the tools. Hopefully I will be able to get out of the saddle and sprint before the Tour."

With Giro d'Italia champion Primoš Roglic deciding not to participate in the Tour and world champion Remco Evenpole retiring midway through COVID-19, Pogachar's big rival will again be Vingegaard.

He said he would have liked to have seen Evenpoehl in the Tour, but the Belgian will return to racing next week in the Tour de Suisse.

"Lemko abandoned the Giro, where he could have fought for the win. He's a world champion, so if it were me, I would have gone for the Tour de France. But everyone is different and feels different on the bike after such a hard race. It will be an even bigger competition, and the same goes for Roglic. But Jumbo has a clear leader in Jonas at the Tour and Roglic, who won the Giro, so I think it's a perfect situation for them. Maybe they are not pushing Primorsch too hard and are saving him for the Vuelta.