Tadej Pogačar: ‘Never felt so good on the bike’
The Slovenian spoke about the upcoming Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard, and the Triple Crown
Three more sleeps! The Tour de France begins on Saturday in Florence and Slovenian Tadej Pogačar is stoked. After a dominant win at the Giro, he’s ready to take on the biggest Grand Tour in the world. In an interview with his Team UAE Emirates squad, he shared how he’s feeling about the upcoming race.
“Winning the Giro d’Italia was an incredible experience, one that I will always cherish. It meant a lot to me as it was my first time at the Giro. To win in the way we did, it was one of my biggest wins so far,” he said. “I was happy I got to celebrate with the team; they were with me for the three weeks and the training camps before. They mean a lot to me; we’re like a family and it was a special moment with them. I really enjoyed it; it was incredible!”
R & R post Giro
After the Giro, he relaxed a little bit, he said. He was actually quite eager to get back on the bike when he got home. During the first week, he did a few days of easy riding to the coffee shop and back home.
“I’m really looking forward to the start of the Tour; I think it’s going to be a special start for me because I won the Giro, and the Tour starts in Italy, so I think it’s going to be amazing! It’s looked like I’ve made a step forward since the Giro, and my shape is even better than what I expected,” he said. “I’ve done some good training, and I’ve tested my legs a little bit and to be honest, I have never felt so good on the bike. I’m really looking forward to seeing if I have improved in the race situations from the Giro, but I feel good so I cannot complain!”
The Slovenian was incredible at the Giro, taking the maglia rosa from the second day and wearing it all the way to Rome. He also took six stage wins, a record shared with the great Eddy Merckx.
2023 vs. 2024
To say his preparation has been much smoother than 2023 is an understatement. After his crash at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and fractured wrist, he had to take quite a bit of time off. He did ultimately ramp up his training but missed the crucial pre-Tour races.
“Last year was totally different because of the injury. No one prepares like that for the Tour if they’re not injured and so many things around me didn’t go well after the crash in Liege. I saw who was there to help me and who wasn’t. There was some disappointment and negative energy around, and it all built up to the Tour de France – I wasn’t per cent confident. There was going to be a moment where it all built up and I was going to crack and it was probably the ITT at Combloux, after that time trial I completely shut down, there was no coming back. Also, after the Tour I had the world championships, nothing went right for me, and I had a tough moment. Luckily, I could recover and finish the season well.”
On his rivals
His rivals Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard, and Primoz Roglic were forced ro recover from injuries following crashes so their form for the upcoming Tour de France is hard to predict. The biggest question mark is that of the Dane. After a serious crash in Spain during the Tour of the Basque Country and an extended hospital stay, the Visma – Lease a Bike rider underwent extensive rehabilitation before returning to training. He started with base miles in his native Denmark before moving on to Mallorca for further conditioning. He then joined his teammates in the French Alps for intensive training.
On Jonas Vingegaard’s fitness
His Visma – Lease a Bike team insisted he would only compete if he could perform well.
“Jonas was really injured, really hard, but I think he’s going to be fine. I think Jonas will be prepared and if he’s strong mentally and has recovered well then of course, I think we should be ready to see him at his best. We saw with Remco and Primoz that they were in really good shape at the Dauphine, maybe with Remco it was a little too soon to be flying 100 per cent but Primoz was in really good form,” he said. “I think they are all going to be at a top level at the Tour. I do think it will be a really competitive Tour, but you never know how your opponents are. Our bodies are unpredictable, last year I thought I was 100 per cent but one day I was super good, and one day I was not ready.”
A Nice final stage
It’s quite a different finish to the 2024 Tour de France. Since Paris will be packed with the Olympic Games, the Grand Boucle will not finish in Paris for the first time in more than a century. Rather, it will be a time trial in Nice. It’s also the first time that the race will conclude with a chrono since 1989. That year Greg LeMond stole the yellow jersey (erm, skinsuit) off of Frenchmen Laurent Fignon’s back.
“I think the difference will be the last three days, they are really, really hard. I think we could also maybe see some sprinters go home before Nice. Obviously, it’s going to be a lot of calculation for the last three days within the balance of the GC contenders, somebody might think to save the legs for the last day because they really have prepared a brutal time trial for us on the final stage which I think has changed the overall race a little bit.”
As far as the time trial finale, Pogi thinks it’s pretty cool.
The final TT will be very tough
“This year I would sometimes go for an easy ride to Nice and back and you could see already they had a Tour atmosphere, even five months ago! You feel lucky to be there, and to finish there it’s going to be amazing. I think it’s going to be super-hot and humid; I know the conditions of July and August well and I think they’re terrible. There will be a lot of fatigue coming into play and with two climbs in the time trial, it’s going to be super tough, but afterwards I can just get on my bike, ride home and go to sleep!”
The Triple Crown
If he wins the Tour de France, he doesn’t plan to compete in the Vuelta a España this year. While wearing the red jersey is a dream, aiming for the Giro-Tour-Vuelta triple in one year is not realistic for him. Winning each Grand Tour is a major goal, but with the Olympics and world Championships also in the mix, his focus will likely shift to the world championships after the Tour.
“Last year I was third in the world championships, and I would like to give it a go again. I really like the course this year, Switzerland is a nice country, and it should be good roads and nice small climbs, it’ll be a tough race,” he said. “To have the rainbow jersey would be a dream.”
If he does win the Triple Crown, he will become only the third rider in history to do so, after Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche.
The Tour de France starts Saturday in Florence. Canadian Cycling Magazine will have daily reports and features during the biggest cycling race in the world.
