This time last year, Tadej Pogačar walked out of an unspecified Italian airport, clambered into a taxi, and asked the driver to take him to the Giro d’Italia. “Andiamo,” he winked and smiled, confirming his participation in the 2024 Corsa Rosa. The hope, especially among local press gathered in Benidorm a year on, was that Pogačar would repeat the act, but with a key modification: the 2025 destination would be the Vuelta a España, and the command would be “vamos”.
Not to be. We have to wait. “Depending on the presentation of the Vuelta [on December 19], that will determine the second Grand Tour,” UAE Team Emirates’ sports manager Matxin Fernandez told assembled press on the Costa Blanca at the team’s annual winter media day. An hour later, Pogačar didn’t give any further indication of what’s more likely, only to say that adding a maillot rojo to his wardrobe(s) of jerseys remains a key ambition. “I did the Giro-Tour, and it’d be nice to do the Tour-Vuelta, or the Giro-Vuelta,” the Slovenian said, “but the Tour is the most important one, the biggest race. We found out this year two Grand Tours are really nice if you have good shape.”
While a decision is on ice regarding the Giro or Vuelta – and UAE gave no hint as to when a final call will be made – Pogačar and his team are clear on one thing: after Strade Bianche and Milano-Sanremo, he’ll return to the cobbles after a year's hiatus – E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders all back on his calendar. “I really like to do the Classics and last year [in 2023] I had a great Classics season until I crashed,” he said, referencing a crushing win at Flanders before breaking his wrist a few weeks later at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
“This year was a bit different but I want to go back to the cobbles at least a few more times in my career. It doesn’t matter if I have the world championship stripes or not, I just like to be there.” Paris-Roubaix, however, one of only two Monuments (Sanremo being the other) he’s not yet chalked off, will more than likely remain a distant goal. “It’s not the final decision, maybe I can still do Roubaix, but I don’t think it suits me the very best,” he said. “I can say that there’s still time to go to Roubaix another time, and not next year.”
Of course there’s time, he’s 26. The assumption is that he’ll continue to dominate the sport for the best part of the next decade, but how is it even possible to better a campaign like he’s just had in which he won the Giro, Tour, the World Championships and two Monuments? “I mean, I can make improvements for sure and my experience is still growing,” he said, a shuddering thought to the competition he has pulverised across the globe since he won his first yellow jersey in 2020.
“I still don’t consider myself as an old guy or older rider, I’m still pretty young, so maybe there’s some room for development. We’ll wait and see in the winter if I can improve some more. For now it looks good, but we will see in the first races if I can be better. Even if it’s a little bit worse than this year it can still be OK.” Elaborating on what aspects of his performance he can still improve, he added: “Small details. People, us humans, we are improving ourselves until the very end, and I think in sport it’s the same. We try to improve until the end of our careers, and when you cannot improve so much more it’s time to finish your career. All the details on the bike, off the bike, training, nutrition, sleeping, you can always make it better, make it 100% good. I try to strive for perfection, every year [I want to] make one step more. It’s having a ritual every day. You can focus on what you want to do without any disturbances. That’s the best thing to improve.”
Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
He wants to look forward, create an unbeatable dynasty, but for now he can still reflect on what he’s just accomplished. “For me personally it was my best season ever,” he stated, rather obviously, “and probably in the past decade the best season overall. I’m not here to judge, but from my point of view it was a great year and I had a great time. It was just all in all exceptional. I must say, I am really grateful and lucky that everything went more or less super smooth this season. I was able to be in good shape in each race from the very beginning to the end, just the small pieces coming together for a perfect season.”
Eddy Merckx, the man regarded as the greatest cyclist of all time, said after Pogačar’s World Championships victory at the end of September that the Slovenian is now better than he was, although the Belgian later clarified those remarks saying that the current dominator still had a long way to go to better his palmarès. Nonetheless, such words are meaningful. “It’s flattering,” Pogačar said. “I feel proud that he says those words.”
Win a fourth Tour in 2025, and win the Worlds in Rwanda, perhaps alongside a second Giro or first Vuelta title, and the discussion around him being the greatest of all time will only intensify. But he won’t get involved in that classic pub debate, he’ll just stay focused on writing more history. “The Tour is the main goal alongside the World Championships again,” he said. “To defend both would give me great pleasure if I can achieve this defence.”
Cover image: Getty
