Tadej Pogačar is looking forward to fighting for Grand Tour success with Remco Evenepoel in the years to come, suggesting the next few years of Grand Tour racing “are gonna be really interesting.”
Pogačar turns 24 on September 21 and Evenepoel will be 23 in January. They are leading the new, young and incredibly talented generation of riders who are taking control of the sport and are likely to go head to head in the 2024 Tour de France. Pogačar won the tour in 2020 and 2021 and was second this year, after also dominating the hardest Classics on the calendar like Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia.
Egan Bernal, Carlos Rodriguez and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), 2022 Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) are all part of the next-now generation of Grand Tour contenders.
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“I think next year is gonna be really interesting… I think even bigger competition is coming for the next couple of years,” Pogačar told Cyclingnews and other media in Canada as he prepared to ride the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal, clearly relishing the idea of future Grand Tout battles.
“I also hope Egan Bernal will come back after his crash. We're gonna have a fantastic couple of years battling each other.”
Pogačar is in Canada as he steps up his end of season racing programme and prepares for the World Championships in Australia. Like Wout van Aert and others he will fly directly to Australia and is taking aim at the rainbow jersey and the end of season races in Italy, especially Il Lombardia.
He has been training hard in recent weeks but revealed he has been watching the Vuelta a España closely and impressed by the way Evenepoel had dominated the race and shown his true Grand Tour credentials.
“I missed some stages because of training but was watching the race on TV a lot. It’s been good entertainment,” he said.
“Remco looks super good. In my opinion, he's in a good position to bring it home. He looks strong, he looks calm. He's really, really strong.
“Everybody knows that he's super strong and super talented. He can do everything: time trial, climb and ride on the flat. I was expecting him to be good and he’s delivered on the expectations.”
Pogačar had originally planned to ride the Vuelta a España in 2023 and so could have crossed swords with Evenepoel. However, after an intense three-week battle with Vingegaard and his first Tour de France defeat, he pushed back against the desire of UAE Team Emirates for him to race in Spain. He opted to take a longer break and target the World Championships and autumn Classics.
One of Pogačar’s strengths is his optimism and balance of character. He refuses to see second place at the Tour de France as a defeat or something negative. It certainly didn’t break his morale and may have made him more determined to fight back in 2023.
“I look really positively on the Tour de France, it was a great Tour. We won three stages and I was second in the general classification,” Pogačar said.
“You always want to win but I think second place was meant to be, there was a lot more to it all than winning in a sense. It's going to give me more motivation.”
Pogačar took almost a month off racing between the Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa and the Bretagna Classic, prefering to rest up and train. His form is unknown but he is usually competitive even after time away from racing.
“Now I'm ready to restart this season. I'm motivated for the last part of it and I'm happy to be racing again,” he said, sunburn on his arms suggesting he has been training hard at home in Monte Carlo in recent weeks.
“It's been a long season and I’m looking forward to my winter break but there are still some really nice one-day races to come too.”
It is Pogačar’s first time racing in Canada and Friday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and especially the hiller and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sunday will reveal more about his form and if he can be a contender for the rainbow jersey on September 25.
Everybody says they’re beautiful races and they’re good preparation for World Championships. I want to do something and get a result,” he said.
“The race organisation is good and they’re circuit races, which I normally like but these races are a bit more technical and with short climbing, so it's gonna be difficult on Friday. But on Sunday, if I have a good day, I hope that I can do something.”
He has a similar approach to the World Championships.
“I cannot wait to go to Australia again and have a good time. I made my WorldTour debut with UAE Team Emirates down there,” he said.
“I don't know what to expect at Worlds. Maybe a small breakaway gets away or there’s a small bunch. A lot could happen. It’s gonna be a really tough, complicated race with a lot of smaller climbs and a lot of corners and everything. I don’t know what to expect really, so many riders could win.
“I have some experience in one-day races, but still, it’s not my territory. I’m still more confident with one-week races and Grand Tours. One-day racing is fun racing, it’s interesting and exciting. I never know what to really expect on the day. It’s like gambling.”
Pogačar will lead the Slovenian team at the World Championships in Australia alongside Matej Mohoric. He is a dangerous rival for Wout Van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Michael Matthews and the rest even if he lacks years of Classic racing experience.
His ambitions are high, lightheartedly suggesting a rainbow jersey would be more prestigious than a Tour de France yellow jersey.
“I’d love a rainbow jersey with UAE Team Emirates on it,” he said.
