As Tadej Pogačar nears a fourth yellow jersey victory at the Tour de France, UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Head of Performance believes the world champion is at his absolute pinnacle, with motivation, not his age, being the key to him keeping it up in future years.
Pogačar has audibly and visibly wanted this Tour to end in the final few Alpine stages, after sustaining the mental toughness needed to win a three-week Grand Tour and living up to every challenge Jonas Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike threw at him.
He said it hasn't been an "easy Tour" by any stretch, and has joked in the past about his boredom surrounding the Tour, and needing to do new things such as Paris-Roubaix, to keep the fire to keep winning burning and himself interested.
Speaking in an extensive interview with L'Equipe, team Head of Performance Jeroen Swart further confirmed the Slovenian's need for fresh challenges, and that a pursuit of a fifth Tour title and further wins will only continue as long as he wants it.
"I think he's really at his peak. The question now is how long we can keep him at this level, and it's no longer a question of age, but mainly of motivation," said Swart to L'Equipe.
"With Tadej, the most important thing is to maintain his enthusiasm. He loves what's new, like trying Paris-Roubaix or trying to win Milan-San Remo.
"In some ways, the Tour is a puzzle, you know. You have to be good in time trials, in the mountains, stay healthy, and not crash, but there's nothing new. That's why he wanted to ride the Giro, and now that he's done it, he wants to win Roubaix to keep his motivation up and maintain his level."
As has already been well documented, Swart puts Pogačar finding a newfound peak in the past two seasons partly down to his change of coach, from Inigo San Millán to Javier Sola in 2023. After which, the then already two-time Tour winner grew to a dominant level which brought him the fabled triple crown of winning the Giro d'Italia, Tour and World Championships.
He confirmed that what we've seen in this ongoing Tour is very close to the level of the 2024 race, which he similarly dominated, and Pogačar has only maintained that to once again defeat Vingegaard convincingly.
"In fact, he's at an almost similar level [to last year]. The biggest improvement was from 2023 to 2024, when he changed coaches from Inigo San Millán, who was my former colleague, to Javier Sola," said Swart.
"We made a lot of changes then, and the difference is obvious today. Tadej has simply maintained his level. I think Jonas Vingegaard was at his best last year, despite his injuries, and this year he's not as strong. Tadej hasn't necessarily improved, but the others can't compete."
Swart specifically praised his team's star rider for his powers of recovery and ability to change both his body composition and training to go from dominating the Classics to destroying the opposition at the Tour de France.
With Pogačar already placing himself among the all-time greats like Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, Swart compared working with him to what it must've felt like for coaches to enjoy overseeing the careers of some of Golf's and Tennis' absolute best in recent history.
"Along with Javier (Sola) and the entire UAE team, we realize how incredibly fortunate we are to work with him," added UAE's Head of Performance.
"He's the first person with such a skill level. It only happens once in a generation; it's like working with Roger Federer or Tiger Woods; it's just incredible to see them achieve what they're capable of."
Swart was also asked about speculation surrounding the best rider in the world, which obviously follows, given cycling's dark history and his absolute domination of most of the calendar. The senior UAE staff member noted several advancements in the sport in his replies, ranging from data to the rapid development of equipment, as examples of why the sport and riders are so much faster.
"I started coaching in 2003, and when I look back, what we're doing today is light years ahead of what we were doing ten or twenty years ago, and it continues to evolve with access to data," added Swart.
"When you know the context and history of this sport, it's quite normal to be sceptical. Unfortunately, that's the history of this sport, and it's understandable to have doubts.
"But look at the equipment. In five years, we went from 23 mm or 25 mm tires, and today, we ride with 30 mm or even 31 mm tires, which has helped improve speed and aerobic performance, to the point where you feel like someone is pushing you, and you gain four to five kilometres per hour.
"Personally, I'm only an amateur, but I feel that difference, so imagine the enormous gain for professionals. We see it in our tests: on a 40-minute climb, the equipment makes a difference of two to three minutes."
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